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^■^ 



DEBATE IN THE SENATE, 

ON THE NOMINATION OP 

HIARTirV VAW BIJREM, 

TO BE M1XIST£R OF THE^UNITED STATES TO GREAT BKITAIV. 



This debate took place mainly on the 24tli and 25th of January, 1832, and, 
according to the rules of the Senate, in Secret Session. After the question was 
<lecided, the injunction of secrecy was removed, by a vote of the Senate, from 
the debates as well as the proceedings in this case. In consequence of which, 
the following proceeding and authentic sketches of speeches delivered in that 
.'k'bate were published in the National Intelligencer and other papers. 



EXTRACT FROM THE SENATE JOURNAL. 

DF.cEMBKn 7, 1831. 

A Message was received from tiie President of tlie United States, nominating Martis 
Vax Buhex, of New York, to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the 
United States at the Court of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 

The message was read. 



Tuesday, Decembeii 27. 

Ordered, That tlie nomination of Mahtin Van Bcren be referred to the Committee on 
Foreign Relations. 



Tuesday, January 10, 1832. 
Mr. TAZEWELL, from the Committee on Foreign Relations, to whom was referred the 
nomination of Mautix Vax Buren, reported. 



Tuesday, January 13. 

The following motion, submitted by Mr. HOLMES, was taken up for consideration: 

Resolved, That the nomination of Martin Van Buren be recommitted to the Committee 
on Foreign Relations; and that said (Committee be instructed to investigate tlie causes whicli 
produced the removal of the late Secretaric s of the Treasury and the Navy Departments, 
and of the Attorney General of the United States, and also the resignations of the Secre- 
taries of tile State and War Departments; and "eport to the Senate wliether the only causes 
of that novel and important polHical movement are given in the letters of the President of 
the United States, addressed on that occasion to the several officers above enumerated; and, 
if not, what were the causes to which these removals and resignations ought to be ascribed. 
And also, whetlier tlie said Martin Van Buren, then Secretary of State, participated in any 
practices disreputable to the nationd character, which were designed to operate on the 
mind of the President of the United States, and calculated to smooth the way to his ap- 
pointment to tlie high office to which he has been nominated. 

Resolved, 'I'liat fur the purpose of carrying into -effect the objects of the preceding reso- 
lution, tlie said Committee be further authorized to send for persons and papers, and to 
compel the attendance before them of such witness or witnesses as they may desire to ex- 
amine on o.ath, touching the matter submitted to their investigation; and to report the same 
to the Senate, witli their opinion thereon, together with the nomination aforesaid. 

A debate ensued; and, on motion by Mr. HOLMES, 

Ordered, 'I'hat it lie on the table. 

The Senate then proceeded to consider the nomination of Martin Van Buren. 

On motion that it lie on the table. 

It was determined in the affirmative. Yeas 21, Nays 21, as follows: 

YEAS— Messrs. Bell, Bibb, Chambers, Clay, Ewing.Foot, Frehnghuysen, Hayne, Holmes, 
Johnston, Knight, Miller, Moore, Naudain, Prentiss, Bobbins, Kuggles, Seymour, Silsbee, 
'I'omlinson, Tyler. 

1 



LS8^ 
■S 

NAYS— Messrs. Benton, Brown, Biickncr, Dallas, Dickerson, Ellis, Forsytb, Grundy, 
Hendricks, Hill, Kane, King, Mangum, Marcy, llobinson, Sniitii, Tazewell, Tipton, Troup, 
White, Wilkins 

Tlie Senate being cqualiv divided, the VICE PRESIDEN^T determined the question in 
the affirmative. 



Tuesday, Januahy 24. 
On motion by Mr. MAUCY, 

The Senate resumed the consideration of the nomiiiation of Martix Van Buheni antl,, 
after debate, 

The Senate adJaurnecL 



WEDNESnAY, Januauy 25. 

The Senate resumed^ the consideration of the nomination of Mautis Van BcnEjr; andf, 
after debute, 

Tlie question was taken — Will the Senate advise and consent to the appointment of Mar- 
TIN Van BunE?r' — and was determined in tiie negative. Yeas 23, Nays 23, as follows; 

YEAS — Messrs. Benton, Brown, Buckner, Dallas, Dickerson, Dudley, Ellis, Forsyths, 
Grundy, Hendricks, Hill, Kane, King, Mangum, Marcy, liobinson, Smith, Tazewell, Tipton» 
Troup, Tyler, White, Wilkins. 

NAYS — Messrs. Bell, Chambers, Clay, Clayton, Ewing, Foot, Frelinghuysen, Hayne, 
Holiines, Johnston, Knight, Miller, Moore, Naudain.Poindexter, Robbins, Ruggles, Seymourj^ 
Silsbee, Sprague, Tomlinson, Waggaman, Webster. 

'l"he Senate being equally divided, the VICE PRESIDENT determined the question irj. 
the negative. 

So it was 

Besohed, That the Senate do not advise and consent to the appoiatment of Martin Tai? 

BCTREN. 



THE DEBATE, 



Mk. holmes. 

Mr. HOLMES said, in offering these resolutions [proposing an inquiry, &c.] f am governccf 
by the expectation that the inquiry ])roposed by tliem will lead to disclosures in regard- to 
transactions which are still involved in considerable mystery. Public opinion is not yet 
settled down as to the true causes of the kite explosion in the Cabinet. That a Cabinet of 
the President's own selection, and wliose official duties had, by iiia own admission, beer: 
performed to his entire s-atisfaction, should so soon be dispersed, is an event so extraordinary 
in the history of this country, that the public, and especially the Senalc, have a right to be 
informed of the causes which led to, or operated in, producing such a strange result. The 
People, whose money has been squandered to derange and re-organize this Cabinetv 
are interested in this inquiry. If the gentleman wliose nomination Is now the subject of 
consideration, has in any way coiitrlved or contributed to bring about the event, it would 
go far to disquahfy him for the ofiice to which he has been nominated, and if not, it is due 
to him that the inquiry shoidd be had. Suspicion rests heavy on him, and, when that is the 
case, it is always good ground for investigation. I did expect that his friends, instead o^' 
objecting, would have consented to, and insisted upon, the iiivcstlgation proposed by the 
resolution. Is it becaivse they fear the result ? They suy not — but the inquiry proposed is 
not in terms what it should be. I, sir, have never insisted that ibejbrm of the resolution' 
should be preserved. If I can obtain the object, I will i>ut them in any shape which may be 
agreeable to a majority of the Senate. That this must be an f:» parte Inquiry, and when 
Mr. Van Buren is absent, at such a distance that he caimot be Informed of the investigations- 
which affect his character, 1 can only say, that, if a man will consent to take an appointment 
in the recess, knowing that the Senate must puss upon I'.im in his ivbsence, he takes the 
hazard of an ex parte investigation, or is willing to trust his case in the care of his friends. 
Sir, if it be otherwise, the Senate is entirelv precluded from any inquiry into his merits^untii 
he chooses to return, or the President is pleased to recallhim. 

For myself. Sir, I am opjjosed to this nomination on other grounds, and I propose this, 
inquiry ratiier to satisfy others, although on this point I should prefer to be satisfied. I am. 
aganist him, because he has humbled us in the eyes of foreign nations. He has surrendered 
the rights of this country to Great Britain, to sustain his party. It is the Jirst tim4 this co Jn- 
try was ever thus disgraced ; and I would it should be the last. And, if I had no othei- 
reason, his appointment in the recess, to fill a vacancy created in the recess, is enough for 
me. I have always disapproved sending of^' i\ minister in the recess of the Senate^ witivoiit 



vhe mo5t Imperalive reasons. It is compelling llie Senate to approve the appointment, or 
s\ibject us to tlie loss of the outfit. I would, at that expense, break up the practice — it 
would be an essential saving. It is, moreover, evading that constitutional check which the 
Senate were designed to have in the appointment of ambassadors, and in our foreign 
negotiations. I woald protect the exercise of this power by the Senate, and never surren- 
der It, 

It is objected to these resolutions th.it they are not sufficiently specific. Sir, it is not ex- 
pected that a motion for inquiry will be drawn witii the same precisior. as an indictment, 
rf you can designate the acts precisely, there is no necessity for inquiry. It is for want of 
a fuTlTcnowledge of tiie particular acts tliat inquiry has become necessary. We know full 
well that the political movement referred to in the resolution has been differently explained. 
Mr. Van Buren himself could not remain wiUiouta disfranchisement. What particular disfran- 
chisement tliat]was, the public has not yet learnt. We would like to know what privileges of 
a free citizen he was compelled to surrender, as the price of his office, and whether that sur- 
render was any way connected with the removals and the other resignations. Will any one 
say, or pretend, that a participation in that extraordinary affair would not affect his qualifi- 
cations as minister ' Sir, whoever brought about that explosion is unfit for any office. The 
whole nation was convulsed by it, and a stain is cast upon this administration which can never 
be effaced. The exchange of officers, too, by the la.te Minister, and the appointment of Mr. 
Van Buren to succeed him, and so soon after this explosion, furnishes a sufficient ground of 
inquiry. The late minister had been out but a short time : he had scarcely become acquainted 
at the VJourt where he was sent. There should be strong reasons for recalling a minister, and 
supplying his place with a new man, aud the expense should never be incurred unless the pub- 
lic good manifestly demanded it. This looks muchl.ke making provision (or a man who, from 
JTiyslerious circumstances, liad been compelletl to quit the office which he had held; and I 
know no ]}rinciple in this Government wliich will justify creating offices or vacancies to pro- 
vide for f.ivoritcs, or to reward a partisan. 

Do the hieivds of Mr. Van Buren object to the inquiry ? 'I'hey say no : it is the resolu- 
tions to which they object. And yet tlieir rr-asoning goes against any inquiry. But, if the 
objection is to the man ner ov extent of the inquiry,wl(y not propose to amend the resolutions, 
•or offer one of their own ? Indulgin^g in objections which go to the form, and which seem 
\o be captious withal, indicates strongly a wish to suppress all inquiry. It is objected, that 
the investigation proposed maj' disclose impeachable matter. This is always the bugbear 
to frighten us away from all investigation into the conduct of any man, and to place every 
officer of your Government beyond the reach of responsibility. But really it seems to me 
to be exceedingly out of place kcK. We may find matter that would impeach Mr. Van 
liurenl How ? In what office would lie be impeachable ? Not as Secretary of State, for 
^le is out of that office. Not as Minister to Great Britain, for in that office be, as yet, has 
clone nothing. How, then, I repeat, can we possibly be in any such danger ? ll-docs ap- 
pear to me tliat this is the weakest of all objeciions. But one word further, in answer to 
these hackneyed objections, as to impeachable matter. Tlie Senate have a present execu- 
tive duly to perform — to ascertain whether Mr. Van Buren is a proper person for Minister 
lo Groat Britain, in order to determine whether we can give the President our advice aud 
consent to his appuintmeiit ; and in this we are told that we are restrained from inquiry, lest 
Xhls executive duty, which we are now to perform, shall conflict with a future judicial duty 
whicji we, hy possibililij, may have to perform \ Sir, it is enough to state the objection to 
show its manifest absm-dity. And where does tliis argument of the gentleman lead us '' H 
shuts the door of iiujuiry forever, and every man, now in office, nominated for anotfier, must 
be '* taken and deemed" worthy, lest the Senate should stumble upon impeachable matter'! 

I find, therefore, that Senators who profess to -court inquiry, urge objections which would 
«3cleat all investigation. It must be impossible, then, to fi-ame any resolutions which would 
meet their views ; and why should I further modify these to please tliem, when they are 
determined to be satisfied witl) nothing ^ 

Sir, as to the disgrace attached to these resolutions, I allow no man to judge for me what 
is honorable or disgraceful, 'lliat tliey refer to a disgraceful transaction 1 readily admit. 
But 1 have yet to learn, that, if the udministration descend to scandalous transactions, that it 
i8 beneath the dignity of Uiis Senate to call thera to uccouut.. 

'yute.—lx. 19 ptrhaps ilue to tliu public lliat 1 shoulil, to prevent false inipresj'ions, explain lUe reasons whj' Oie 
icsolutiuns wliicli loffeiotl were laid en iJie table, and iiocafierwards taken up and acted on. The rtfSolutionB 
i.vere objected lo by some of Mi'. Van Buien's IViends, and tin. toi m oC tlitni by some ol' tliose who eventually 
voted against hiiu. But several of bis fiiendi had, 4n debate, uiged arguments which would go greatly agaiiKt 
any resolutions of inquiry upon ihie iioininalion— such as the absence of the pernon nominated, and the danger 
-of finding impeachable matter, Sue. To tiiese Seiiatoi-s I readily perceived that no inquiry would be acceptable. 
Of those who finally voted against the nomini.tioii, some wished ihe resolutions modified. To give time to frame 
lhera,soas-to5iiitall who wished inquiry, I moved to lay the resolutions imi the table. Wiietlier any resolutions of 
inquiry could have been framed that would have met the aj>probation of the friends of Mr. Van B., is not lor me to 
tay. After this, I was asked by a member if I intended to call up the resolutions, or " bill of indiciment," and 
if I did, wheiii' My answer was—" Not till the grand jury is full, if at all." Then, turning to a Senator irom New 
York, I nirormedbim distinctly, that I would let him know to-morrow whether 1 should call up tJie resolutions 
<n' not ; and, if it should be my determination to call litem uji, lie was to Uiuv« to go into E^CCUliVC liu$iut.'33, iut 
4be purpose of cU«(t|s«ing and deciding UltK. 

I* 



The next mornine I drew a substitute for the first resolution, as follows : 

" That the nomination of Murtiii Van Buren, a« Miui«lor to Great Dritain, be refcn-eJ to a Select Committee; 
and that the Committee be in.itcucted to inquire what were tlie causes of the removal from office of the late Secre- 
tarieiof the Treasury and Navy, and of the Attorney General, and of the resignations of the late Secretaries of 
State and War; and whether Mr. Van Burtn hud any, and, if any, what, agency, in bringing about the change of 
the late Cabinet. 

" And, also, to inquire whether Mr. Van Bui-en did resign hisofHceas Secretary of State, under a promise, or 
undemtandin^, that he was to be aiipointed Minister to Great Britain ; and with a lurihtr understanding with 
the late Minister to Great Britain, I'lat he was to be provided with the place which he now enjoys." 

I showed this to several of my friends, who were satisfit d with it Hut others pi-efei r,'l the original resolutions; 
and, believing no form could be deviled by me which would be acceptable, and that the facts sought to be dis- 
vlosed by them mitht be ascertained without the intervention of a committee, I informed the Senator that / 
thould not call t/iem up. in these words, which I wrote down at the time ; " 1 am saiislied that the facts to be 
inquii-ed into by the resolutions which I offered on the nomination of Mr. Van Buivn, can be ascertained without 
a committee ; and, therefore, I shall not call them up." 'I'lius leaving the friends of Mr. Van Buren to prose- 
cute the inquiry by a committee, or to permit the facta to be ascertained by each Senator lor himself. 

J. HOLMES. 



Mr. MARCY, 

On fJie Resolutions offered by Mr. Holmes. 

Wlien tiie resolutions ofiefetl by Mr. Holmes were luulei consideration, and towards \\\e 
close of the debate, Mr. MARCY observed that be had not intended to make a single re- 
mark upon the subject then before tlie Senate ; yet he was unwillinjj to give a vote, from 
which it might be inferred, unless it was accompanied with a word of explanation, that he 
wished to suppress inquiry. That was very far from his intention. If any honorable Sena- 
tor has reason to believe tliat the person whose nominatioH is now under consideration is 
chargeable with improper conduct, and will introduce a resolution specifying the cliarge, 
and asking for inquiry, he would give it his support as readily as any member of that body ; 
but the resolutions ofrtved by the Senator from Maine [Mr. Hooies] were of an exceptiona- 
ble character : for, in addition to impeaching, indirectly, if it may be so considered, tlie in- 
tegrity of the President, by proposing to ask if he liad stated tlie true reasons for tiie dissolu- 
tion of his late Cabinet, it will bring before the committee, if it should be adopted, a mass 
of matters very difficult to be inquired into, and not at all connected, as he conceived, with 
the vote to be given on the nomination of Mr. Van Buren. No committee to which these 
resolutions will be sent, will voltintarily enter into tlie various matters which some gentle- 
men may suppose to be within the scope of the inquiry into the causes of the dissolution of 
the late Cabinet, and the Senate ought not to impose that labor on them, unless it be proposed 
to show that Mr. Van Buren had an agency in that affair. It is not pretended — certainly 
not by the resolutions, that he was connected with the event ; it is true that the resolutions 
after the introduction of much iirelevant matter, propose to inqviire whether Mr. Van Buren 
had not participated in practices disgracefid to the national character, &c. 

Let any Senator, who believes such practices ever had, in point of fact, any existence, 
put them forth specifically in resolution, and he would, he said, vote to send it to a commit- 
tee for investigation ; and if they were found to be true, let the nominee be rejected. The 
designation of offences by the terras of "practices disgraceful to the national character," 
was very vague — quite too vague. The nature and character of these practices should be 
defined, that the Senate may know the duty they impose, and the committee the duty they 
are required to perform. 

•y. The proposed resolutions, as now shaped, m.ake no specific charge, and give no certain di- 
rection to the inquiry. He therefore felt himself called on to vote against them, or to vote 
for laying them on the table ; but when a case for inquiry was presented, he would vote for 
going into it. Indeed, he wished to be distinctly imderstood as inviting inquiry ; but, in 
fairness, it should be on specified cliarges. 

As to some of the practices intended probably to be embraced in the resolutions, weliave, 
he said, the solemn public denial of Mr. Van Buren, accompanied with a challenge to all 
the world for proof, and no rna?} had yet been found to accept that challenge and come forth 
with proof. Those who best know the character and conduct of the nominee feel the full- 
est confidence that nothing dishonorable or degrading, in the slightest degree, can be sub- 
stantiated. So far, therefore, from closing the door of investigation, they are willing to be 
instrumental in opening it. 

The question was oow stateti on consenting to llie nomination. 



Mr. chambers. 

Mr. CHAMBERS said there were few occasions which could produce with him a more 
painful struggle between personal inclination and official obligations, than the one on which 
he was now called to act. With the nominee, said Mr. C. Thave for years enjoyed person- 
al and social relations that have left impressions which it would gratify me to indulge by an 
expression of their kindest recollection ; and this consideration, with the fact of his frequent 



elevation to nfliccs of higli honor and dignity, and liis distinguished position in relation to the 
political parties in tlie country, will connect with the subject an interest rarely occasioned by 
Ihe nomination of an imlividual to office. 'Die office itself to wliich he is nominated is one 
so intimately afTecting the peculiar duties and responsibilities of llie Executive Magistrate by 
whom we are invited to confirm the appointment, as to require on the part of the Senate a 
peculiar degree of indulgence. Regarding a diplomatic functionary as the confidential organ 
of the President, as selected witii a previous knowledge of the particular duties to be per- 
formed by him, and with reference to his especial fitness for those duties, it is undoubtedly 
proper t!»at the Executive will, in regard to the agent, should not be controlled but from the 
most unyielding obstacles ; to oppose it for light causes would lessen the weight of his re- 
sponsibility, and greatly increase our own. To reject the nomination of a Minister at home 
or abroad, can, in my view, be defensible only upon the strong grounds of principle, having 
direct and immediate reference to considerations of a public nature. 

In tile deliberate counsel and advice which the Constitution requires us to give to the Pre- 
sident, there is no proper place for the exercise of personal favor or ill will, for party preju- 
dice or partiality. Sir, as one of the humblest members of tliis body, I can fearlessly appeal 
to my course here on all former occasions, and to the course of those witii whom I usually 
act, with the most entire confidence tliat it will evince a liberal charity toward the officers 
nominated, and a magnanimous surrender of personal and political prejudices on the altar of 
the public good, and a just regard to the prerogatives of the President. 

With these opinions, Mr. President, it is scarcely necessary to affirm, that, in the vote which 
I shall give on this occasion, I have obeyed no other impulse tiian that of my judgment i but 
it will be permitted me to assert, as I do with tlie most unafTected sincerity, that my personal 
inclinations have reluctantly witnessed, and would gladly reverse the sentence which a high 
sense of official duty will compel me to record, witli a deep and abiding conviction of its just- 
ness. I am altogether aware of the danger to which my vote may expose me from the ma- 
lignant virulence of those, who, themselves insensible to tlie honest and honorable feehng 
which subdues the petty passioas of a contracted and factious partisan, are on all occasions 
inclined to attribute the conduct of others to the narrow-minded policy which governs them- 
selves. Sir, I sliould be an unfaithful servant of my Slate, treaclierous to the high trust which 
I am charged to execute, and destitute of the courage necessary to protect the interests con- 
fided to my guardianship, if apprehensions like these could for a moment divert me from the 
path to which duty points. It would have afforded me great gratification to have listened 
to some more able advocate of tiie nation's honor, and to have been able to repose my vote 
on tlie causes more satisfactorily assigned by another. But the question is about to be taken, 
and I will not consent to allow an occasion to pass, without raising my feeble voice to redeem 
the tarnished reputation of my country. If other Senators accord with my opinion, it is es- 
sential, sir, that the vote of rejection shall go forth associated with the reasons which influ- 
ence it. Yes, sir, the honor and the dignity of this nation has — (and I think it demonstrable) 
— tlie heretofore unsullied diplomatic character of the American liepublic has been stained, 
its lofty pride has been humiliated — unnecessarily, wantonly humbled — by the man who is 
now proposed as its guardian, and protector, and advocate ^ and, as an American Senator, I 
am not content barely to put upon kim the seal of reprobation in a secret session of this body. 
No, sir, let the American Government — let the American People, proud of their national ho- 
nor, know that no ruthless hand shall desecrate it with impunity ; and let foreign nations, and 
all tile world know, that even an American Secretary of State dare not pollute its ermine. 

Mr. President, I mean to resist tiie confirmation of Mr. Van Buren's appointment, exclusive- 
ly on the ground tliat, in his instructions to Mr. McLane, on tlie subject of the colonial trade, 
lie has violated tlie honor of the nation, has wounded its high and elevated character, has 
evinced a disregard to the interests of tlie American People — nay, has insulted that people 
in the person of their government, has attempted to promote the objects oi-i party amongst 
us, and has disclosed a total ignorance of tlie proper principles and feelings which should 
adorn the diplomatist. For proof of these assertions I mean to rely exclusively on his own 
words, dehberately embodied in a state paper, and on those to which lie has himself alluded, 
and found amongst the archives of tiie Department of which he was then tiie head. 

In directing the attention of the Senate to a particular part of the letter of instructions from 
Mr. Van Buren to the American Minister then at the Bntisli Court, I disclaim the inference, 
tliat the residue of that letter, or that other letters of instruction, contain no exceptionable 
matter. There are many positions which, on another occasion, it would be proper to dis- 
pute, and the whole temper and tone of the despatches breathe an air of humility and con- 
cession, and conviction of error, and a suppliant entreaty of favor and notice, which no Ame- 
rican citizen, who thinks and feels as I think an American freeman sliould do, can regard as 
the appropriate language of his Government, pledgsd as it is *' to ask nothing but what is 
right, and to submit to nothing that is wrong." 

The portion of Mr. Van Buren's work, however, to which I will more particularly allude, 
is a part of his letter of instruction to Mr. McLane, dated 20th July, 1829. He uses this Ian- 
guage : 

11 The opportunities which you have derived from a participation in our public councils, as 



6 

•well as other sources of information, will en.'ole yon (-■ speak with confidence (as far as yooi 
may deem it proper and useful so to do) of the iL-spcciive parts taken by those to whom the 
administration of this government is now committed, in relation to the course heretofore pur- 
sued upon the subject of tlie colonial trade. Their views upon that point have been submit- 
ted to the people of the United States ; and the counsels by which your conduct is now di- 
rected, are the result of the judgment expressed by the only earthly tribunal to which the 
late administration was amenable for its acts. It should be sufficient that the claims set up 
by them, and which caused the interruption of the trade in question, have been explicitly 
abandoned by those who first asserted tliem, and are not revived by their successors. If Great 
Britain deems it adverse to her interests to allow us to participate in the trade with her colo- 
nies, and finds nothing in the extension of it to others to induce her to apply tlie same rule 

. us, she will, we liope, be sensible of the propriety of placing her refusal on tiiose grounds. 
To set up the actsof ihe late adminis'ration as the cause of foifeituie of privileges which 
would otherwise be extended to the People of the United States, would, under existing cir- 
cumstances, be unjust in itself, and could not tail to excite their deepest sensibility. The 
tone of feeling which a course so unwise and untenable is calculated to produce, would 
doubtless be greatly aggravated by the consciousness that Great Britain has, by Order in 
Council, opened her colonial ports to Kussia and France, notwithstanding a similar omission 
on their part lo accept the terms oflTered by the act of .July, 1825. 

" You cannot press this view of the subject too earnestly upon the consideration of the 
British Ministry. It has bearings and relations that reach beyond the immediate question un- 
der discussion." 

Now, sir, when stripped of its verbiage and reduced to its plain impor';, what does the Sec- 
retary of Slate here ^ress so earne«//_y.? Tliat Mr. McLane, the Minister, who had been a 
member of the political party of wiiich the then President was the nominal head, (and the 
Secretary of State a most conspicuous supporter, with imputed anxiety to claim a reversion- 
ary interest in the chieftainship,) that the Minister, who had been a member ol this Senate, 
and in that character informed of the conflicting views of the different political branches or 
subdivisions into which the great American family had been arranged, should stoop to avail 
himself of this personal intimacy with our family dissensions, to press earnestly upon a foreign 
Government the misconduct of one part of this family in the relations of our Government with 
that foreign Power, and the more amiable and kind feelings of another division of it. But 
is this all ? No, sir ; it is earnentty pressed that the JImericcm Government — the concentrated 
will of the whole American family,the only legitimate source of access to foreigners, the only 
authorized organ of communion with other Nations — th.it this Government, in the person of 
its " late Administration," should be bowed down in dishonor and in degradation at the feet 
of Lord Aberdeen, th^ delegated but humble personation of the British Monarch. Yes, sir, 
the unheard of, unparalleled, and most revolting experiment was to be made, (other supplr- 
cations having tailed to move the royal sympathy,) how far an unsparing condemnation of 
ourselves would disarm a British throne of its haughty, supercilious disdain of a just and an 
honest demand. I say, sir, it was norel and unheard of. 1 repeat it. Let the past history 
of this proud Republic be minutely interrogated — ay, in the many poIitic.il changes of its 
agents, which, by the terms of its organization, it must witnes=!, let it be sought ; let the days 
of Adams, of Jeftierson, of Madison, Monroe, and the last Adams, be diligently inquired of. 
Sir, no voice respc»nds to countenance this degrading, tills disgraceful operation, by w hicii the 
Government is humbled into a penitential confession of its transgressions, to appease a foreign 
King, or to moderate the wrath or conciliate the favor of a foreign Power. 

Not only, Mr. President, do the fair and unadulterated pages of American diplomacy re- 
fuse countenance to such miserable self-abasement, but, sir, the history of all the civilized 
nations of the earth stamp upon it the indelible character of a gratuitous prostitution, un- 
aided by precedent.unwarranted by any parallel. Sir, it adds to tiie deep condemnation which 
belongs to this subject, that it was as useless and unproductive of gain as it was disgraceful 
in Itself. Can the imagination conceive how benefit could possibly arise, or be supposed to 
arise, from an abject confession of "wrong," by repudiating the claims of the Government 
as "American pretensions explicitly abandoned by those who first asserted them, not revived 
by their successors," who are directed by counsels that "are the result of the judgment ex- 
pressed by the only earthly tribunal to which the late Mministration was amenable for its 
acts?" What possible advantage, I ask, could be anticipated by the position of a prostrate 
suppliant, who, from the depths of degrad.ition and abasement, should thus besoech a foreign 
diplomatist, that would not be accorded to a civil and high-minded application, based upon 
the suggestion, that, however the American Government was convinced of its claims to 
higher and other terms, it was yet willing, in a spirit of frankness, and in an anxious desire to 
terminate old and agitated questions of disagreement, to waive the further prosecution of 
those claims, and tliereby to evince the sincerity of lis desire for an amicable adjustment.' But, 
sir, I come now to that consideration which stamps upon this subject its peculiar character, 
wljich sets It oflt in colors of a still darker shade, and which must leave us to infer, that no 
mere want of manly, stern republican feeling of self-respect, not the unobserved prostration 
or careless disregard of national dignity and character, not alone a cold and callous insensl- 



biljty to those feelings of cheilsheJ pride, of nice and delicate honor, which kindles into ac- 
tive resistance at even the appearance of rebuIiCi but that some more latent motive of pro- 
posed effect, has caused tiiis deep dyed stain upon the nation's history and its fame. Sir, as 
if it were not enough to bow down the knee and supplicate forgiveness in terms of doleful 
regrets for wrongs, and anxious solicitude to repair tiiem — as if it were not enough to open 
to a Foreign Power tlie history of our internal disputes end political divisions, and to ask 
them to consider one party here as more kind in their feelings, more reasonable in their de- 
mands, more conciliating in tlieir tone, and, therefore, more entitled to liope for the favora- 
ble notice of England — as if the measure of our degradation was not to be accomplished 
by a gratuitous concession of acknowledged injustice of " American pretensions" "aban- 
doned," tlie Secretary lias resorted, in tlie absence of other provocations, to misstatements 
of fact, to create a condition of things, for the purpose of giving color to the fierceness and 
tincovert wrath wliich be aims at his political adversaries. 

Sir, I say, and the diplomatic hisU)ry of the nation will prove, that tiie statement made in 
tliis particular ciiarge of the Secretary is false in fact — yes, sir, doubly false. What is it.' 
" The claims set up by them, and which caused the interruption of the trade in question, 
have been expUcilly abandoned by those who first asserted them." Now, the first branch of 
the position is utterly witliout foundation, we all know. 'I'he last Administration explicitly 
abandoned no claims which it set up, nor did any claims set up by it cause the interruption 
of the trade. The last Administration was willing to negotiate on the subject of the trade, 
but the British Government refused to meet their proposal, although made in the most ex- 
tended and liberal feeling of compromise. I-.et the correspondence of our Secretary of 
State, and the Message ot the President, prove this. But, unfounded as is that branch of 
the assertion, how manifestly and obviously more so, how profoundly destitute of even the 
shadow of correctness is the other,which declares tiiat the miscalled " American pretensions" 
were first asserted by the last Administration. Wliy, sir, does not every one know that in 
this respect the last Administration did but pursue the settled and fixed purpose of the Ad- 
ministration that preceded it, and that these " pretensions" did not commence even then? Sir, 
•Al Administrations had indulged tiiese pretensions. The last Administration, the first to 
assert them! Truly, this must have amused the intelligent diplomatist to wiiom the Envoy 
was directed to make the communication. 

No, I am wrong in this conjecture: for I believe, from my reading of Mr. McLane's let- 
ters to his Lordship, that the experiment was not made upon his ignorance of what every page 
in the diplomacy of his own country would have taught him. No, sir, this notion of their 
being first asserted by the late administration did not, I believe, hnd place in those letters. 
What "bearings and relations that reach beyond the immediate question" were in the view 
of the Secretary, it is not for me to divine. He speaks, in another part of these instructions, 
of •• the impropriety of suffering any feelings that find their origin in the past pretensions of 
this Government, to have an adverse influence u))on the present conduct of Great Britain." 
Sir, I do not mean to follow the Secretary in his dark and mysterious language. The plain 
and undoubted import of that which, unfortunately for the nation's character, can admit of 
but one reading, is enough for me. No man, in my poor judgment, can ask us to confide 
to his care the dignity of the nation and its honor, who has arrayed one political division of 
our People against the Government. Sir, what is to be the result ? How may this very 
doctrine recoil on himself ' In the same terms m;»y a British Secretary for Foreign Affairs 
now say to him, " I do not respect your opinions as those of the American People i your 
President is about to witness the termination of his period of office 5 a new election is to be 
made ; the People, the proper tribunal to pass upon his measures, may not sustain hinri. I 
appeal from your judgnr.ent, and, submit the matter to theirs, and until their sentence is re. 
corded, I can only regard your admin>sirution as you have regarded the late administration." 
Yes, sir, these are legitimate consequences of such doctrine, involving a pertect and entire 
surrender of all consideration abroad, and all national pride at home. To an individual who 
has thus outraged the chai-acter properly belonging 10 a great and high-minded nation of 
freemen, who has prostrated its dignity, and brought disgrace and dishonor upon its diplo- 
matic reputation, I never can advise the President to confide the preservation of its respect 
abroad : and this first assertion of a course pregnant with every thing that threatens the 
pride, and dignity, and honor of the American Uepublic, will, I trust, be marked by the 
most decisive reprobation of an American Senate. 

After Mr. CHAMBERS concluded, Mr. SMITH of Maryland made some 
observations, which are incorporated in a full report of his remarks, which ap- 
pears nearer the close of the debate. 



Mr. CLAYTON. 

Mr. CLAYTON, of Delaware, rose to reply to some remarks of Mr. Smith. He said he 
rose under a deep sense of the responsibility which he owed to the Senate and the country 
on this question. He owed it to himself, to the people whose representative he was, and to 



8 

the body of wlncli he was a member, to state briefly the grounds upon which iie shoulil 
render a vote, withholding his advice to the President to make this appointment. 

I agree, said Mr. C. with my friend from Maryland, (^Mr. Chambers,) in the view which 
lie has taken of the instructions given by the late Secretary of State io onr Minister at the 
Court of St. James. I consider the late negotiation, respecting tlie West India trade with 
the Englisli nation, as llie most humiliating to our national pride that has occniTed in the 
annals of our diplomacy. The Minister was sent with instructions to fawn, and beg as a 
boon, at tlie footstool of a foreign Power, what we were entitled to as a rights and to aban- 
don and denounce, as untenable *' pretensions," what Iiad been always before insisted upon 
as a matter of justice to onr country. He was positively directed to consider his own Go- 
vernment as justly assailable for " too long and loo tenaciously resisting the rights of Greai 
Britain," and particularly for omitting to accept the terms offered by tiie act of Parliament 
of July, 1825. lie was directed to speak toilh confidence " of the respective parts taken by 
those to whom the administration of this Government is now committed," to lay before Eu- 
rope the state of parties in this country, and to degrade and disgrace all the former Admi- 
nistrations of our Government, during vvhicli this rigiit hud been insisted ujion, by entirely 
and unconditionally withdrawing all our claims for justice on that country. lie was told, in 
substance, to press upon England tlie state of our domestic and party diflerenccs at home-, 
and he was admonished that this subject had bearings and relations fthich readied beyond 
the immediate question under discussion. Sir, this Minister did as lie was ordered to do. 
He " entreated" and " appealed," and " begged," and "prayed," '• regretted," and " so- 
licited," and '• hoped to be excused," and confessed loe had been in the wrong, instead of 
repelling with dignity the insolence and sarcasm of the 15ritish Ministry; until the contempt- 
ible boon was " granted," and the national character efl'ectuall}' degraded. Let him take 
his place in the Treasury for this ; but let not him who gave these instructions succeed him 
at the Court of St. James, again to " beg," and " solicit," and degrade us in tlie eyes of 
Europe, by laying before the world the state of our domestic differences at home. Let us 
say to the British Government this day by our vote, that we never consented to the disgrace 
which has befallen us, and tliat v/e prefer to recall the Minister wlio has dishonored us, to 
all the pretended benefits of this miserable negotiation. On this ground alone, 1 will this. 
day condemn this appointment, so far as my vote will go to effect it ; and in so doing, as 
an American Senator I s.ay to England, that we will never consent to crouch for favors; and 
to all our Ministers, now and forever, that we will condemn every attempt to carry our family 
divisions beyond our own household. 

Sir, the gentleman from Maryland v/ho last addressed us, (Mr. Smith,) replied to similar 
objections made by his colleague, that the President was alone respon-r.-ble for tliese instruc- 
tions, and not the Secretary whose name was signed to them. Sucli has been the i)retence. 
for exonerating from all responsibility other pei-sons ciiarged with maladministration of the 
Government. Either by preventing the disclosure here of impeachable matter, or b^' pre- 
senting the President as a shield to the party charged with it, the responsibility of every in- 
ferior public agent is melted away to nothing. The gentleman, without defending the Se- 
cretary or the Minister in this negotiation about tiie West India trade, feels safe if he can in- 
terpose the President as the party chargeable with the whole matter. But I will do the Pre- 
sident the justice to say, that I cannot believe that he had read these instructions when they 
were given ; and I hold the Secretary answerable to his country for every public act per- 
formad by him while he remained in office. 

There is another topic, closely connected with the hojior and interest of this nation, upoi* 
which tlie nominee before us has been strongly charged, and in relation to which 1 confess. 
the wish that an investigation, instituted before I took my scat this session, had been prose- 
cuted to its termination before this daj'. I refer to the causes which produced the disrup- 
tion of the late cabinet. I view that event as higlily disreputable to our country ; and I find 
that, according to the declarations of a gentleman who formerly edited a paper in the State 
of New York, advocating the President's administration, Mr. Van Buren privately informed 
him ♦' that it (the dissolution of the late cabinet) was caused by the conduct of the Vice 
President and Mr. Ingham, who desired the retirement of Gen. Jackson from office at the 
expiration of the first four years of his term of service ;" at the same time in effect charging- 
a conspiracy between these gcnllemen to traduce the character of a chaste and virtuous 
woman, in order to produce llic destruction of the cabinet ; and (stating) that he, Mr. V» 
B. had thought it better to retire in time, know'mg that, if he led the way, «' the rest must fol- 
low." This information is, 1 believe, now in the hands of a Senator from Mississippi near me» 
(Mr. PoiNiiEXTEn,) and it is said that the author of it is present in the city, ready to bear tes- 
timony to the truth of it. However this ir.ay be, 1 must be permitted to say, as one whose 
course here has been plain— having had nothing to do with either of the contending branches 
of the party m power— that 1 consider such a chai-ge against the Vice President as unjust, and 
utterly without foundation ; while 1 hold that the declaration containing the charge contains 
also an unequivocal admission as to the true agent, and the motive of that agent, in the 
transaction to which 1 have alluded. But, without reference to this, and many other matters 
which might be fairly pressed into this discussion as reasons for the vote wliich I am about 



9 

to reiulei', I content mjsclf by resting (liat vote on tlie ground of llie instructions given by 
Mr. Van l$;ircn to our l;ite Minister to England, and tlie consequent dishonor to our diplo- 
matic intercourse willi tiial country. 

Mr. C. concluded by observing that on some more suitable occasion lie might give his 
views on the subject of tlut negotiation ; but lie would prefer doing so in the face of the 
country to a secret discussion in the Executive session of the Senate. 



Mr. MARCY. 

Mr. MA.RCY said, that he had intimated heretofore, more than once, that it was imt his 
intention to offer to the Senate any observations upon tlie main question now before tliem. 
What regarded the conduct of the present Minister to London, was better understood by 
other members, and what was to be said in explan.ation or vindication of it, would be better 
said and belter received from most of tliem, by reason of their great experience in ])ublic 
affairs, and their particular knowledge of the transactions wliicli jiave been brought under 
review in this discussion. He iiad determined tlial it wonkl be his duty to trouble the Senate 
with remarks, only, in case topics should be introduced into tlie debate, with whicli he 
might well be supposed, from his local situation, to be particularly acquainted. 

The occasion which rendered it proper that he sliculd say something, had arisen in conse- 
quence of what had fallen from the honorable Senator from Kentucky, [Mr. Clat.] His 
attack was not confined to the nominee; it reached the State wiiicli he [Mr. M.] represented 
in this body. One of tlie grounds of opposition to the Minister to London, taken by the 
Senator from Kentucky, was the pernicious system of party politics adopted by the present 
Administration, by which the honors and offices were put up to be scrambled for by parti- 
sans, &.C. A system, which the Minister to London, as the Senator from Kentucky alleged, 
had brouglit here from tlie State in which he formerly lived, and had for so long a time acted 
a conspicuous part in its political transactions. I know, sir, said Mr. M., that it is the habit 
of some gentlemen to apeak with censure or reproach of the politics of New York. Like 
other States, we have contests, and, as a necessary consequence, triumphs and defeats. 
The State is large, with great and diversified interests; in some parts of it, commerce is the 
object of general pursuit; in others, manufactures and agriculture are the cliief concerns 
of its citizens. Wc have men of enterprise and talents, wiio aspire to public distinction. It 
is natural to expect from these circumstances, and others that might be alluded to, that her 
politics should excite more interest at home, and attract more attention abroad, than those 
of many other Slates in the Confederacy. 

It may be, sir, that the politicians of the United States are not so fastidious as some gen- 
tlemen are, as to disclosing the principles on which they act. They boldly preach what they 
]iractise. When they are contending for victory, they avow tlieir intention of enjoying the 
fruits of it. If they are defeated, tliey expect to retire from office. If they are successful, 
they claim as a matter of right, the advantages of success. They see nothing wrong in the 
rule, tiiat to the victor belongs the spoils of the enemy. 

But, if there be any thing wrong in the policy which the Senator from Kentucky has so 
strongly reprobated, he should know that this policy was not confined to the Minister to 
London and liis friends in New York, but is practised by his [Mr. Clay's] own political 
friends in that State; he should know that if to one man any more than any otiier now living, 
the existence of that policy is to be ascribed, it is to one of tlie Senator's own political 
fiiends. The j)ractice of making exfensive changes in the offices, on the change of parties 
in that State, was begun, 1 believe, before the nominee was upon the political stage; certainly 
while he was quite a young man, and before he had acquired great consideration in political 
aflfairs. I must be permitted, sir, to say, that, of all the party men with whom 1 have acted, 
or been particularly acquainted, (and the number of such is not small,) I know of no one 
who has acted vvitli, or advised to, more moderation than the person whose nomination we 
are now considering. 

, When the Senator from Kentucky condemns the present administration for making re- 
movals from oIKce, and then ascribes the act to the pernicious system of politics imported 
from New York, I fear he does not sufficiently consider the peculiar circumstances under 
which the present administration came into power. General Jackson did not come in under 
the same circumstances that Mr. Adams did, or Mr. Monroe, or Mr. Madison. His accession 
was like that of Mr. Jefferson. He came in, sir, upon a political revolution. The contest 
was without a parallel. Much political bitterness was engendered. Criminations and re- 
criminations were made. Slanders of a most extraordinary character flooded the land. 
When the present Chief Magistrate took upon himself the administration of the government, 
he found almost all the offices, from the highest to the lowest, filled by political enemies. 
That his Cabinet was composed of his friends, no one will complain. The reasons for thus 
composing it will apply with considerable torce to many of the officers under the Heads of 
the several Departments. 

If some dismissals of the subordinate officers in these departments were made, it will not 
be asserted that all opposed to the Administration were discharged. I have heard it confi- 



10 

fclently asserted, by those who I supposed spoke with knowledge on the subject, tliat many, 
perhaps a majority of those retained — and almost all were retained — belong now to the op- 
position — they are the political supporters of tlie honorable Senator from Kentucky. 

I have good reasons, very good reasons, for believing, , that it is the gentleman's rule of 
conduct, to take care of iiis friends when lie is in power. It requires not the foresight of a 
prophet, to predict, that if he shall come into power, he will take care of his friends, and 
if he docs, I can assure him, I shall not complain; nor sliall 1 be in the least surprised if he 
imitates the example which he now so emphatically denounces. 

Now I am up, I will ofler a few words relative to the much censured instructions to our 
former minister to England. I must say, I have discovered in tiiem nothing to merit or provoke 
the harsh strictures bestowed on them. They do not, in my opinion, furnish a fit occasion 
for tiie Senator from Kentucky, to impute to Mr. Van Buren, as he has done, with passion- 
ate emphasis and frequent reiteration, a charge of falseliood or culpable ignorance. The 
language, which lie desired might be taken down, is, •' ihnl Mr. Van Buren staled ivhat 
was false w he was culpably ignorant fur not knowing that it was false.'* Tlie instructions 
allege, that tliose who first asserted certain claims to interfere with tlie regulations of Great 
Britain, as to llie colonial trade, abandon them, 8ic. The Senator from Kentucky chooses 
to consider this a declaration, that the late Administration first asserted the claims, and then 
abandoned them. If we admit this construction to be the true one, to what does it amount^ 
}Ie does not deny — indeed it is expressly admitted, that the late administration asserted the 
claims, and then waived them. 

What is then the mighty difference between the assertion in the instructions, and the flict 
as admitted here' We are told that the late Administration were not X.\\e first to assert them 
— that they were set up under the Administration of Mr. Monroe. If this pretended false- 
hood is of such a flagitious character as has been given to it, it is natural to expect that it 
would change very essentially the meaning of the sentence. If there be the least error in 
the instructions, it is in the use of the word first; strikeout that word and let us see whether 
the meaning of the sentence is materially changed. Whether the late Administration were 
\.\\Q first to assert the claims, and then gave them up, or asserted them after they liad been 
previously asserted by Mr. Monroe's Administration, and then gave them up, is very nearly 
the same thing. If there was any thing wrong or reprehensible in asserting claims or pre- 
tensions, and then giving them up, the censure incurred by the late Administration for so 
doing, is not much mitigated by the circumstance that a preceding Administration had as- 
serted similar claims or pretensions. It appears to me that if a cause of censure had not 
been very much wanted, such an one as this would not have been hunted up and put forth 
eo prominently. 

The manner in which our late minister to London was instructed to conduct the negotia- 
tion, m.ay, for aught 1 know, be unusual; but it does not appear to me to be censurable. 
The whole affair presents itself to me as a very plain matter. The British Government, by 
their act of Parliament of 1825, offer to the United States a p.irtlclpatlon in the trade with 
her American Colonies, on certain conditions, the particulars of which it is not at all neces- 
sary now to consider. 

'i'lie administration, for some reason or other — probably in the hope of getting better — 
refused the terms offered, and claimed more advantageous ones as a matter of right: but 
afterwards, finding, i presume, that better terms could not be obtained, and their claim of 
right could not be sustained, concluded to take those that were first offered, and had been 
refused. When they proposed to take these terms, the British Government told them they 
were too late, and positively refused to grant what it had before offered. The colonial 
trade was lost to the country. The late administration attempted to recover It — they made 
more than one attempt to open a negotiation with the British Government, for the purpose 
of obtaining that trade on the very terms on which it had been offered to, and refused by 
them. Tills was the situation of affairs when that administration went out of power. The 
commercial interests of the country required that their successors, who thought the terms 
offered by the British Government should have been accepted, should make an effort to re- 
gain that important trade. As negotiation had been repeatedly and peremptorily refused to 
the Government of the United Slates, it was necessary to offer some excuse for attempting 
it again. That excuse was formed in the public and notorious fact, that the administration 
of the affairs of the United States had passed from the hands of those who refused the of- 
fered terms, into the hands of those who thought the offered terms ought to have been ac- 
cepted, and who censured their predecessors for not accepting them. Mr. McLane was in- 
structed to use this fact to remove any obstacle to opening the negotiation for the recovery of 
the lost West India Trade, in case any obstacle should be interposed on account of the man- 
ner in which the late administration had managed this affair. I confess that I cannot see any 
thing wrong in these much censured instructions. I see no invoking of favors on party con- 
aiderations — no .ibandonment of honor or dignity. Gentlemen may call it novel diplomacy; 
but I call it plain dealing, and the result has shown it »va3 a successful negotiation. 



11 

Mr. foot. 

Mr. FOOT said, since the Ayes and Noes .-ire ordered, and our votes are to be record- 
ed on this question, and especially after the friends of the nominee have opposed a resa- 
lution of inquiry into the conduct of the late Secretary of State in the discharge of his of- 
ficial duties, and have desired the members to examine for themselves, I feel it a duty and 
esteem it a privilege that I may state in a few words, and in plain terms, the grounds on 
which my vote will be given against this nomination. 

Sir, the evidence of my own senses, of sight and hearing, since the commencement of 
(his Administration, have produced a thorough conviction in my mind, that, upon the true 
JeflTersonian principle, viz: — •• 7* ht honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the Constitu- 
tion?" — an imperious sense of duty on the question wliich will be proposed, viz: " Will 
tlie Senate advise and consent to the nomination?" t\'ill compel me to answer in the nega- 
tive. 

A resolution has been offered, to instruct a Standing Committee of tiie Senate to inquire 
into tlie conduct of the nominee in relation to certain very singular and extraordinary oc- 
currences. This has been opposed by l>is friends. It has been stated on tliis floor, that 
there are papers in possession of Senators, ready to be presented to the Senate, or to a 
Committee, sufficient to convince any Committee or any member of the Senate, that the 
nominee has stated to some of his friends and partisans certain facts in relation to the causes 
of the explosion of the late Cabinet, wliich, if proved, it is admitted, ought to prevent 
the confirmation of this nomination. 

The Senator from New York (Mr. Marct) states that "he does not believe these 
statements entitled to credit; he does not believe that Mr. Van Buren has ever made such 
remarks or admissions to any person." Tiie Senator from Delaware (Mr. Clayton) pro- 
poses to introduce the witness on this floor if desired, 1 sh;^ll not look for any admissions 
or confessions of this nominee to his friends or elsewhere whicli would criminate himself. 
Since all these offers have been rejected, 1 ask no further evidence. In fact, for myself, 
no evidence of wliat my duty would require on an occasion like the present lias been want- 
ing since the letters of instruction to our Minister to England were read in this body nearly 
two years since, and which I then pronounced disgracetul to llie country. 

Tlie Senator from Maryland (Mr. Smith) has said " that for tlie instructions given by the 
Secretary of State to a foreign minister, tlie Secretary is not to be held responsible, the 
President alone is responsible." Sir, whatever may be the views of that Senator, it is no 
rule for me. I hold a very difl'erent doctrine. In my opinion, there is not a Senator on this 
floor, or any other careful observer, who has noticed tlie proceedings of this Administration 
from its commencement, who is not fully convinced tliat there had been "behind the throne 
a power greater than the throne itself," which has directed most of its movements. I will 
not say there is legal evidence sufficient to convict a man before a Court of Justice; but 
there is enougli to produce conviction in my mind, and I sincerely believe tiiat Gen. Jack- 
son came to this place fully determined to remove no man from office, but for good cause 
of removal. I am fully convinced that the whole " system of proscription" owes its exist- 
ence to Martin Van Buren! That the dissolution of the Cabinet was effected by his ma- 
nagement, and for his benefit! and th.it the hand of the late Secretary of State may be 
traced distinctly in another affair, which has producec. an alienation between tiie first and 
second Officers of the Government; and also in relation to the present " improved con- 
tion of the public press," and for the great abuse of the patronage of the Government! 
And, sir, I hold him responsible for many acts which I can never approve. But, sir, this 
is not the first time that I have pronounced the instructions given by the late Secretary 
of State, to Mr. McLane, tiien Minister to London, and the negotiation with the Court of 
Great Britain, on the subject of the Colonial Trade, to be degrading and disgraceful to the 
N.ation. Sir, it has ever been our pride and our glory, that in all our diplomatic inter- 
course with foreign Nations, we have never admitted our country to be in the wrong! nor 
has she ever been proved /o be in the wrong, before the late iuimiliating and disgraceful 
correspondence with the British Government. This is the first time in her whole history, 
in which she lias ever begged favors of Royal bDunty. And holding, as I do, the author 
of those instructions responsible for this disgrace, I can never advise the President to send 
the author of such instructions as a Minister to represent the interests of this Nation at the same 
Court where slie has been so disgraced — and 1 must record my vote against the nomination. 



Mr. WEBSTER. 

Mr. WEBSTER said, as it is highly probable that our proceedings on this nomination 
will be published, 1 deem it proper to state shortly tiie considerations which influenced my 
opinion, and will decide my vote. 

I regard this as a very important and delicate question. It is full of responsibility; and I 
feel the whole force of all that responsibility. While I have been in the Senate, I have 
opposed no nomination of the President except for cause; and I have at all times thought 



J2 

that such cause should be pl.iiii, ami sufficient; that it should be real and substantial, not 
unfounded or fanciful. 

I have never desired, and do not now desire, to encroach, in the slightest degreee, on 
the Constitutional powers of the Ciiief Magistrate of the Nation. 1 have heretofore gone 
far, very far, in assenting to nominations which have been submitted to lis. I voted for 
the appointment of all the gentlemen who composed the first Cabinet; I have opposed no 
nomination of a foreign Minister; and 1 have nf>t opposed the nominations recently before 
lis, for the re-organization of the Administration. I have always been especially anxious, 
that in all matters relating to our intercourse with other nations, the utmost harmony, the 
greatest unity of purpose, should e.xist between the President and the Senate. 1 know 
how much of usefulness such harmony and union are calculated to produce. 

I am now fully aware, sir, that it is a serious, a very serious matter, to vote against the 
confirmation of a Minister to a Foreign Court, who has already gone abroad; and has been 
received, and accredited, by the Government to which he is sent. I am aware, that the 
rejection of this nomination, and the necessary recall of the Minister, will bs regarded by 
foreign States, at the first blush, as not in the highest degree favorable to the character of 
our Government. 1 know, moreover, to what injurious reflections one may subject him- 
self, especially in limes of party excitement, by giving a negative vote, on such a nomina- 
tion. But, after all, I am placed here to discharge a duly. I am not to go through a forma- 
lity — 1 am to jjerform a substantial and responsible duty. I am to advise the President in mat- 
ters of appointment. This is my constitutional obligation; and I shall perform it conscien- 
tiously and fearlessly. 1 am bound to say, then, sir, that for one, 1 do not advise nor consent 
to this nomination. I do not tliink it a fit and proper nomination; and my reasons are found 
in the letter of instruction, written by Mr. Van Buren, on the 20th of Jul)', 1829, to Mr. 
McLane, then going to the Court of England, as American Minister. I think those in- 
structions derogatory, in a high degree, to the character and honor of the country. 1 think 
they show a manifest disposition, in the writer of them, to establish a distinction between 
his Country and his Party ; to place that party above the country ; to make interest, at 
a foreign Court, for that party, rather than for the country'; to persuade the English Ministry 
and the English Monarch, that ihey had an interest in maintaining, in the United States, the 
ascendancy of the Party to which the writer belonged. Thinking thus of the purpose and 
fjbject of these instructions, I cannot be of opinion that their author is a proper liepresenta- 
tive of the United States at that Court. Therefore it is, that 1 propose to vote against his 
nomination. It is the first time, 1 believe, in modern dijilomacy, it is certainly the first 
lime in our history, in which a minister to a foreign court has sought to make favor for one 
party at home, against another; or has stooped, from being the Representative of the whole 
country, to be the Representative of a Party. And as this is the first instance in nur histo- 
ry of any such transaction, so I intend to do all in my power to make it the last. For one, I 
set my mark of disapprobation upon it; I contribute my voice and my vote, to make it a ne- 
gative example, to be shunned and avoided by all future Ministers of the United States. 
If, in a deliberate and formal lettter of instructions, admonitions and directions are given 
tea minister, and repeated, once and again, to urge these mere party considerations on the 
foreign government, to what extent, is it probable, the writer himself will be disposed to 
urge them, in his one thousand opportunities of informal intercourse with the agents of that 
Government^ 

I propose, sir, to refer to some particular parts of these instructions ; but, before I do that, 
allow me to stale, very generally, the posture of that subject, to which those particulars re- 
late. That subject was the state of our trade with tlie British West India Colonies. I do 
not deem it necessary now to go minutely into all the history of that trade. The occasion 
docs not call for it. All know, that by the Convention of 1815, a reciprocity of intercourse 
was established between us and Great Britain. The ships of both countries were allowed 
to pass, to and from each other respectively, with the same cargoes, and subject to the same 
duties. But this arrangement did not extend to the British West Indies. There, our inter- 
course was cut ofl\ Various discriminating and retaliatory acts were passed, by England and 
by the United States. Eventually, in the summer of 1825, the English Parliament passed 
an act, ofi'ering reciprocity, so far as the mere carrying trade was concerned, to all nations, 
•who might chuse, within one year, to accept that offer. 

Mr. Adams's administration did not accept that offer ; first, because it was never officially 
communicated to it ; secondly, because, only a lew months before, a negotiation on the \Gry 
same subject had been suspended, with an understanding that it might be resumed ; and 
thirdly, because it was very desirable to arrange the whole matter, if possible, by treaty, in 
order to secure, if we could, the admission of our products into the BriUsh Islands for con- 
.funiption, as well as the admission of our vessels. This object had been earnestly pursued 
ever since the peace of 1815. It was insisted on, as every body knows, through the whole 
of Mr. Mor.roe's Administration. lie would not treat at all, without treating of this object. 
Jle thought the existing state of things better than any arrangement, which, while it admit- 
ted our vessels into West India ports, still left our productions subject to such duties there, 
that thev could not be carried. 



13 

Now, sir, Ml" Adams's administration was not the first to take the ground. It only occu- 
pied the same position which ita predecessor liad taken. It saw no important objects to be 
gained by changing the state of things, unless that change was to admit our products into 
the British West Indies, directly from our ports, and not burdened with excessive duties. 
The direct trade, by Knglish enactments and American enactments, had become closed. No 
British ships came here from tlie British West Indies. No American sliip went from us to 
those places. A circuitous trade took place, through the Islands of third Powers ; and that 
circuitous trade was, in many respects, not disadvantageous to us. 

In this state of tlungs, sir, Mr. McLane was sent to England ; and he received his Instruc- 
tions from tlie Secretary of State : In these instructions, and in relation to this subject of the 
Colonial Trade, are found the sentiments of which I complain. What are they ? Let us ex- 
amine, and see. 

Mr. Van Buren tells Mr. McLane: " The opportunities which you have derived from a 
participation in our public councils, as well as other sources of information, will enable, 
you to speak with confidence ras fir us you may deem it proper and useful so to do, J 
of the respective parts taken oy those to whom the Administration of this Government is 
now committed, in relation to the course heretofore pursued upon the suljjecl of the Colo- 
niul 7rade." 

Now, this is neither more nor less than saying, " you will be able to tell the British Min- 
ister, whenever you think proper, that you, and I, and the leading persons In this Adminis- 
tration, have opposed the course heretofore pursued by the Government and the country, 
on the subject of the Colonial Trade. Be sure to let him know, that, on that subject, we 
have held with England^ and not with our own Government." Now I ask you, sir, if this 
be dignitied diplomacy ? Is this statesmanship ' Is it patriotism, or is it mere party ? Is it 
a proof of a high regard to the honor and renown of the whole country, or is it evidence of 
a disposition to make a merit of belonging to one of Its political divisions ? 

The Secretary proceeds : '• Their views (that is, the views of the present Administration) 
upon that point have been submitted to the People of the United Slates ; and the counsels 
by which your cotiduct is now directed, are the result of the judgment expressed by the 
only earthly tribunal to ivhich the late Mministralion was amenable for its acts." 

Now, sir, in the first place, there is very little reason to suppose that the first part of this 
paragraph is true, in p(;int of fact. I mean that part which intimates that the change of Ad- 
ministration was brought about by public disapprobation of Mr. Adams's conduct, respectinu 
the subject of the Colonial Trade. Possibly, so much was then said, on a subject which so 
few understood, some degree of impression may have been produced by it. But be assured, 
sir, another cause will be found, by future historians, for this change; and that cause will be 
the popularity of a successful soldier, united with a feeling, made to be considerably exten- 
sive, that the preferences of the People in his behalf had not been justly regarded, on a pre- 
vious occasion. There is, sir, very little ground to say that " the only tribunal to which the 
late Administration was amenable" has pronounced any judgment against it for its conduct 
on the whole subject of the Colonial Trade. 

Btit, however this may be, the other assertion In the paragraph Is manifestly quite wide of 
the facts. Mr. Adams's Administration did not bring forward this claim. I have stated, 
already, that it had been a subject, both of negotiation and legislation, through the whole 
eight years of Mr. Monroe's Administration. This the Secretary knew, or was bound to 
know. Why then does hi speak of it as set up by the late Administration, and afterwards 
abandoned by them, and not now revived ? 

But the most humiliating part of the whole follows : — " To set up the acts of the late 
Administration, as the cause of forfeiture of privilege, lohich loould otherwise be extended 
to the People of the United States, would, under existing circumstances, be unjust in it- 
self, ^and could not fail to excite their deepest sensibility." 

So, then, Mr. President, we are reduced, are we, to the poor condition, that we see a 
Minister of this great Uepublic instr-icted to argue, or to intercede, with the British Minis- 
ter, lest he should find us to have forfeited our privileges ,- and lest these privileges should no 
longer be extended to us ! And we have forfeited tho<<e privileges, by our misbehaviour, in 
choosing rulers, who thought better of our own claim, than oj the British ! Why, sir, this is 
patiently submitting to tlie domineering tone of the British Minister, I believe Mr. Iluskis- 
son — [Mr. Clay said, "no, Mr. Canning."] — Mr. Canning, then, sir, who told us that all 
our trade with the West Indies was a boon, granted to us by the indulgence of England. 
The British minister calls it a boon, and our Minister admits it is a privilege, and hopes that 
his Uoyal Majesty will be too gracious to decide that we have forfeited this privilege, by our 
misbehaviour, in the choice of our rulers ! Sir, for one. I reject all idea of holding any 
right of trade, or any other rights, as a privilege or a boon, from the British Government, or 
any other Government. 

At the conclusion of the paragraph, the Secretary says, " Yoii cannot press this view of 
tilt subject too earnestly upon the consideration of the British Ministry. It has bearings 
and relations that reach beyond the immediate question under discussion." 

And adverting, again, to the same subject, towards the cIosq of the despatch, lie says, 



14 

" twill add nothing as to the impropriety of suffering any feelings that find their ongm in 
the past prttenaions of this Government, to have an adverse influence upon the present con- 
duct of Great Britain ." 

I ask again, Mr. President, if this be statesmanship ? If this be ilipnity ? If this be elevated 
reirard for country ? Can any man read this whole despalcli, with candor, and not admit, 
that it is plainly and manifestly the writer's object, to gain credit with the British Ministry, 
for the present administration, at tlie expense of the past ? Certainly, this object appears 
to me as plain and visible as the sun at noon. 

Lest I sliould do the Secretary injustice, I will read all that 1 find in this letter, upon this 
obnoxious point. These are the paragraphs : 

" Such is the present state of our commercial relations with the British colonies, and 
" such the steps by which we iiave arrived at it. In reviewing the events wliich have pre- 
*' ceded, and more or less contributed to, a result so much to be regretted, there will be 
" found tliree grounds upon which we are most assailable : 1st, in our too long and too tena- 
*' ciouly resisting the right of Great Britain to impose protecting duties in her colonies," 
2nd, &.C. 

'* The opportunities which you have derived from a participation in our public councils, 
•• as well as other sources of information, will enable you to speak with confidence (as far 
*'asyou may deem it proper and useful so to do) of the respective parts taken by those to 
" wliom tlie administration of this Government is now committed, in relation to the course 
*' heretofore pursued upon the subject of the Colonial Trade. Their views upoi\ that point 
" have been submitted to the people of the United States ; and the counsels by which your 
" conduct is now directed are the result of the judgment expressed by the only cart ly tri- 
" bunal to whicli the late Administration was amenable for its acts. It should be sufficient 
" that the claims set up by them, and which caused the interi-uption of the trade in ques- 
" tion, have been explicitly abandoned by those who first asserted them, and are not revived 
** by their successors. If Great Britain deems it adverse to her interests to allow us to par- 
"t'lcipate in the trade with her colonies, and finds nothing in the extension of it to others to 
" induce her to apply tlie same rule to us, she will, we hope, be sensible of the propriety of 
•• placing lier refusal on those grounds. To set up tlie acts of the late Anministration as tiie 
•' cause of forfeiture of privileges which would otherwise be extended to the I'eople of the 
" United States, would, under existing circumstances, be unjust in itself, and could not fail 
" to excite their deepest sensibility. The tone of feeling which a course so unwise and un- 
«» tenable is calculated to produce, would doubtless be greatly aggravated by the consciousness 
" that Great Britain has, by order ui council, opened her colonial ports to Russia and France, 
" notwithstanding a similai- omission on their part to accept the terms offered by the act of 
" July, 1825. You caiuiot press this viesv of the subject too earnestly upon the considera- 
" tion of the British Ministry. It has bearings and relations that reach beyond the immeili- 
" ate question under discussion." 

" I will add nothing as to the impropriety of sufTering any feelings that find theii' origin in 
" the past pretensions of tliis Government to have an adverse influence upon the present 
•' conduct of Great Britain." 

Sir, 1 submit to you, and to the candor of all just men, if I am not right in saying, that 
the pervading topic, through the wliole, i», not American rights, not American interests, 
not American defence, but denunciation of past pretensions of our o\,vn country, reflections 
on the past Administration, and exultation, and a loud claim of merit, for the Administration 
HOW in power. Sir, I would forgive mistakes; I would pardon the want of information; I would 
pardon almost any thing, where I saw true patriotism and oound American feeling : but 1 
cannot (brgive the sacrifice of this feeling to mere Party. 1 cannot concur in sending abroad a 
public agent who has not conceptions so large and liberal, as to feel, that in the presence of 
Foreign Courts, amidst the monarchies of Europe, he is to stand up for his country, and his 
whole countiy ; that no jot nor tittle of her honor is to come to harm in his hands ; that he 
is not to suffer others to reproach either his Government or his Country, and far less is he 
liimself to reproach cither ; tliat he is to have no objects in his eye but American objects, 
and no heart in his bosom but an American heart ; and that he is to forget self, to forget par- 
ty, to forget every sinister and narrow feeling, in his proud and lafty attachment to the 
llepubllc, whose commission he bears. 

Mr. President, I have ilischarged an exceedingly unpleasant duty, the most unpleasant of 
iny public life. But I have looked upon it as a duty, and it was not to be shunned. And, 
bir, however unimportant may be the opinion of so humble an individual as myself, I now 
only wish that 1 might be heard by every Independent Freeman in the United States, by the 
British Minister, and the British King, and by every Minister and every crowned head in Eu- 
rope,whlle standing here in my placi.-, I pronounce my rebuke, as solemnly and as decisively 
as I can, upontliis first instance, in which an American Minister has been sent abroad, as the 
Eepresentfttive of his Party, and not as the Representative of his Country. 



15 

Mr. clay. 

Mr. CLAY said, after the most deliberate consideration, I regret that I find myself utterly 
unable to reconcile with the duty I owe to my country, a vote in favor of tliis nomination. 
I regret it, because, in all the past strife of party, the relations of ordinary civility and cour- 
tesy were never interrupted between the gentleman whose name is before us, and myself. 
But I regard my obligations to the People of tlie United States, and to the honor and charac- 
ter of their Government, as paramount to every private consideration. There was no ne- 
cessity known to us for the departure of this gentleman from the United States, prior to the 
submission of his name to the Senate. Great IJritain was represented here by a diplomatic 
agent, having no higher rank than that of a Charge des Affaires. We were represented in 
England by one of equal rank ; one vvho had shed lustre upon his country by his high lite- 
rary character ; one whom it may be justly said that, in no respect, was he inferior to the 
gentleman before us. Although I shall not controvert the right of the President, in an ex- 
traordinary case, to send abroad a public minister, without the advice and consent of the 
Senate, I do not admit that it ever ouglit to be done without the existence of some special 
cause, to be communicated to the Senate. We have received no communication of the ex- 
istence of any such special cause. This view^ of the matter might not have been sufficient 
alone to justify a rejt-ction of this nomination ; but it is sufficient to authorize us to examine 
the subject with as perfect freedom as we couM have done if the minister had remained in 
the United States, and awaited the decision of the Senate. I consider myself, therefore, 
not committed by the separate and unadvised act of the President in despatciiing Mr. Van 
Buren, in the vacation of the Senate, and not a very longtime before it was to assemble. 

My main objection to the confirmation of his appointment, arises out of his instructions to 
the late minister of the United States at the Court of Givat Britain. The attention of the 
Senate has been already called to parts of those instructions ; but there are other parts of 
them, in my opinion, highly reprehensible. Speaking of the colonial question, he says : 
"In reviewing the events which have preceded, and more or le-s contributed to a result so 
♦' much to be regretted, there will be found three grounds on whicli we are most assailable. 
'• First, in our too long and loo tenaciously resisting the right of Great Britain to impose pro- 
♦* tecting duties in her colonies;" •»»•*»•• "and, thirdly, in omitting to accept 
" the terms offered by the act of Parliament of July, 1825, after the subject had been 
" brought before Congress, and deliberately acted upon by our Government." »•**•• You 
" will therefore see the propriety of possessing yourself fully of all the explanatory and 
" mitigating circumstances connected with them, that you may be enabled to obviate, as far 
*' as practicable, the unfavorable impression whicli they have produced." And after re- 
proaching the late Administration with setting up ctams for the /)s^ time, which they expli- 
cilly abandoned, he says, in conclusion, "1 will add not!i>vg as to the impropriety of suf- 
•« fering any feelings that find their origin in the past pretensions of this Government to 
'• have adverse influence upon the present conduct of Great Britain. 

On our side, according to Mr. Van Buren, all was wrong ; on the British side, all was 
right. We brought forward nothing but claims and pretensions ,- the British Government 
asserted on the other hand a clear and incontestible right. We erred ii\ too tenaciously 
and too long insisting upon our pretensions, and not yielding at once to the force of their 
just demands. And Mr. McLutie was commanded to avail himself of all the circumstances 
in his power to mitigate our offence, and to dissuade the Britisli Government from allowing- 
their feelings, justly incurred by tlie past conduct of the patty driven from power, to have an 
adverse influence towards the American patty now in power. Sir, was this becommg lan- 
guage from one independent nation to another ? Was it proper in tlie mouth of an Ame- 
rican minibter ? Was it in conformity witli the high, unsullied, and dignified character of 
our previous diplomacy ? Was it not, on the contrary, tlie language of an humble vassal to 
a proud and haughty lord ? Was it not prostrating and degrading the American Eagle before 
the Britisli Lion ? 

Let us e.\amine a little these pretensions wiiich the American Government so unjustly put 
forward and so pertinaciously maintained. The American Government contended that the 
produce of the United States ought to be admitted into the Britisii West Indies, on the same 
terms as similar produce of the British American continental possessions ; that, without this 
equality, our produce could not maintain in the British West Indies a fair competition with 
the produce of Canada ; and that British preference given to the Canadian produce in the 
West Indies would draw from the western part of New York and the Noithern part of Ohio 
American produce into Canada, aggrandizing Montreal and Quebec, and giving employment 
to British shipping, to the prejudice of the canals of New York, the port of New York, and 
American shipping. . 

This was the offence of tlie American Government ; and we are at this moment realizing 
the evils which it foresaw. Our produce is passing into Canada, enriching her capitals, and 
nourishing British navigation. Our own wheat is transported from the western part of New 
York into Canada, there manufactured, and thence transported in British ships in the form 
of Cftnadian flour ? We lu'e thus deprived of the privilege even of manufwtui-ing our 



16 

own grain. And when tlie protluce of tli.? United States, sliipped from the Atlantic ports, 
arrives at tlie British West Indies, it is unable, in consequence of the heavy duties willi vvhicli 
most of it is biirthened, to sustain a competition witli Britisli or colonial produce, freely 
admitted. 

The general rule may be admitted that every nation has a rig'ht to favor its own produc- 
tions, by protectint;;' duties or oilier regulations ; but, like all general rules, it must have its 
exceptions. And the relation in which Great Britain stands to her Continental and West 
India C;(/lonics, from which she is separated by a vast sea, and the relations in which the U. 
States stands to tliose colonies, some of whicii are in juxtaposition with them, constitute a fit 
case for such an exception. 

It is true lliat the late Administration did auihorize Mr. Gallatin to treat wiih Great Britain 
upon the basis of the rule which has been stated, but it was with the express understandinjij 
that some competent provision should be made in the treaty to guard against the British 
monopoly of liie transportation of onr own produce passing through C:inada. Mr. Gallatin 
was informed " tliat the United States consent to waive " tiie demand which they have 
" heretofore made of the admission of their productions into Bi'itish Colonies at the same, 
*• anil no higher rate of dutj', as similar productions are chargeable willi when imported 
" from one into another British Colon\', ivitli the exception of our produce descending the St. 
*' Lawrence and the Sot ret." 

There was no abandonment of our right, no condemnation of the previous conduct of our 
Government, no iuimiliitiug admission that we had put forth, and too tenaciously clung to, 
unsustainable pretensions, and that Great Britain had all along been in the right. We only 
forebore, for the present, to assert a right, leaving ourselves at liberty, subsequently, to re- 
sume it. What Mr. Gallatin was authorized to do was to make a temporary concession, and 
it was proposed with this preliminary annunciation : '* But, notwithstanding, on a full consi- 
♦* deration ot the whole subject, the President, anxious to give a strong jiroof to Great Bri- 
*' tain of the desire of the Government of the United States to arrange tliis long contested 
" matter of the Colonial Intercourse, in a manner mutually satisfactory, authorizes jou" &c. 
And Mr. Gallatin was required " to endeavor to make a lively impression on the British 
'♦ GoA-ernment, of the conciliatory spirit of that of the United States, whicli has dictated the 
" present liber.il ofler ; and of their cxpectcdion to meet. In the progress of your negotiations, 
•• with a corresponding friendly disposition." 

Now, sir, keeping sight of the object which the late Secretary of State had in view, the 
opening of the trade witii the British (Colonies, which was the best mode to accomplish it ? 
To send our Minister, to prostrate himself as a supplicant, before the British throne, and to 
s.ay to the British King — We have oUendedyour Majesty : the late American Administration 
brought forward pretensions v/hici) we cannot sustain, and they too long and too tenaciously/ 
adhered to them. Your Majesty was always in the right. But we hope that your Majesty 
will be graciously pleased to recollect, that it was not we, who are now in possession of the 
American power, but those who have been expelled from it, that wronged your Majesty ; 
and that we, when out of power, were on the side of your Majesty. And we do humbly 
pray that your Majesty, taking all mitigating circumstances into consideration, will gracious- 
ly condescend to extend to us the privileges of the British act of Parliament of 1825, and to 
grant us t!ie boon of a trade with your .Majesty's West India Colonies ? — Or, to have pre- 
sented himself before the British Monarch in the manly and dignified attitude of a Minister of 
this liepubllc, and, abstaining from all condemnation or animadversion upon the past con- 
duct of his own Government, to have placed the withdrawal of our former demand upon the 
ground of concession, in a spirit of amity and compromise ? 

But the lute Secretary of State, the appointed organ of the American People to vindicate 
tlielr rights with all foreign Powers, and to expose the injustice of any imfounded demands 
which they might assert, was not content with exerting his ingenuity to put his own coun- 
try in the wrong, and the British Government in the right. He endeavore 1 to attach to the 
late Administration the discredit of bringing forward imfoundeil pretensions, and, by dis- 
claiming them, to propitiate tiie favor of the British King, lie says that the views of the 
present Administration, upon the subject of the colonial trade, " have been submitted to the 
" People of the United States ; and the counsels by which your conduct is now directed, 
*' are the result of the judgment expressed by the only earthly tribunal to which the late 
" Administration was amenable for its acts. It should be sufficient that the claims set up by 
*' Iheni, and what caused the interruption of the trade in question, have been explicitly 
" abandoned by tliose who first asserteil them, and are not revived by their successors." 
The late Secretary of State, the gentleman under consideration, here makes the statement 
that the late .Administration were the first to set up the claims to which he refers. Now, 
under all the high responiibility which belongs to the seat which I occupy, T deliberately 
pronounce that tills statement is untrue ; and that the late Secretary either must have known 
it to be untrue, or he was culpably negligent of his duty in not ascertaining what had been 
done under prior administrations. I rej)eat the charge — the statement must have been known 
to be untrue, or ilit-re was culpal)le negligence. If it were material, I believe it could be 
sliowh that the claim in qnestion—the right to the admission into the British West Indies of 



17 

^lie produce of the United States upon an equal footing with similar produce of the British 
continental colonies — is coeval with the existence of our present Constitution ; and that 
whenever the occasion arose for asserting the claim, it was asserted. But I shall go no far- 
ther back than to Mr Madison's Administration. Mr. Monroe, the then Secretary of State, 
instructed our then Minister at London, upon this subject ; he negotiated with Lord Castle- 
reagh in respect to it, and this very claim prevented an adjustment, at that time, of the 
colonial question, ft was again brought forward under Mr. Monroe's Administration, when 
Mr Rush was our Minister at London. He opened a long and protracted negotiation upon 
this and other topics, which was suspended in the summer of 1824, principally because the 
parties could not agree on any satisfactory arrangement of this very colonial question. 

Thus, at least, two Administrations, prior to that of Mr. Adams, had brought forward this 
identical claim or pretension which his was \.\\e first to assert, according to the late Secretary 
of State. 

The next charge, which the late Secretary of State, the official defender of the rights of 
the American People, preferred against his own Government, was that of " omitting to ac- 
" cept the terms offered by tlie act of Parliament of July, 1825, after the subject had been 
•• irouo-^^ before Congress, and deliberately acted upon by our Government." Never.was 
there a more unfounded ciiarge brought forward by any native against his oivn Government; 
and never was there a more unwarranted apology set up for a foreign Government ; and a 
plain historical narrative will demonstrate the truth of botli these propositions. 

It has been already stated that the negotiation of Mr. Rush, embracing the precise colonial 
claim under consideration, was suspended in 1824, with an understanding between the two 
governments that it was to be resumed on all points, at some future convenient period. — 
Early In July, 1825, neither government having then proposed a resumption of the nego- 
tiation, the British Parliament passed an act to regulate the colonial trade with foreign Pow- 
ers. This act was never, during tiie late administration, either at London or Washington, 
officially communicated by the British to the American government; and we only obtained, 
it through other channels. Now, if it had been the purpose of the Britisli government, by 
the passage of that act, to withdraw the colonial question from the negotiation, it ought 
to have communicated tliat purpose to this government, and, at the same time, the act of 
Parliament, as supplanting and substituting the negotiation. But it never did communicate 
sucIj purpose. The act itself did not specifically embrace the United Slates, and offered 
terms which,upon the face of the act, it was Impossible for the United Slates to accede to. 
It required, for example, th.at, to entitle Powers, not possessing colonies, to the benefit of 
the act, they must place the navigation and commerce of Great Britain upon the footing of 
the most favored nation. To have done this, wotdd li.ive admitted British shipping to im- 
port into the United States, on the same conditions with native sliipping, the productions 
of any quarter of the globe, laithoul a reciprocal liberty on the part of the shipping of the 
United States in British ports. Tiie act itself was differently construed in different colonial 
ports of Great Britain; and an order of the local government of Halifax, closing that port 
against our vessels from tl>e 5th of January, was subsequently revoked ; thereby confirming 
the impression that the act of Parliament was not ii\teiided to dispense with the previous 
negotiation. And, to conclude this part of the narrative, as late as tiie 20th October, 1826, 
Mr. Vaughan, the British Minister, upon being interrogated by tlie then Secretary of State, 
was totally uninstructed to afford any information as to the meaning or intent of the act of 
July, 1825. 

Meantime, in March, 1826, more than six months after the passage of the act of Parlia- 
ment, Mr. Vaughan notified the Department of State, that he had " received Instructions 
" from his Majesty's Government to acquaint you that it Is preparing to proceed to the im- 
•• portant negotiations hnKv/eQn that country and the United States now placed in the hands 
" of tlie American Minister in London " »•**♦* "The negotiations will therefore 
" be forthwith resumed." * * * Here tlie negotiations were spoken of, without excep- 
tion of the colonial question, the most important of them. If it had been intended to with- 
draw that, no time could have been more suitable to announce that intention ; but no such 
annunciation was made. Mr. Vaughan was informed that we also would prepare for the 
negotiation, (Including, of course, the colonial question,) and Mr. Gallatin was accordingly 
shortly after sent out, with full powers and Instructions, amicably to settle that question. On 
his arrival in England, in the summer of 1826, he was told by the British government that 
tiiey would not negotiate on the colonial question; that they had made up their mind from 
the pjissage of the act of July, 1825, not to negotiate about It ; and he was Informed by the 
sarcastic Mr. Canning, that as we had failed to accept the BOON, which the British govern- 
ment had then offered, we were then too late ! 

Such is the state of the case on which the late Secretary of State so authoritatively pro- 
nounces judgment against his own government for " omitting to accept the terms offered by 
"the act of Parliament of July,1825!" He adds, indeed, "after the subject had been brought 
" before Congress, and deliberately acted upon by our own government." It was brought 
before Congress In the session of 1825 — 6, not at the instance of the American Executive, 
but upon the spontaneous and ill-judged motion of the gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. 
2 



18 

SJtiTH.) antl Mr. Gallaliii was infurmeJ that it' the bill proposed by thit gentleman had been 
pnssed, it would liave been unsatisfactory to tlie Hritish government. 

I have another objection to tliis nomination, 1 believe, upon circnmstances which satisfy 
my mind, that to tliis gentleman is principally to be ascribed the introduction of the odious 
system of proscription for tlie exercise of the elective franchise, in the government of the 
United States. 1 understand that it is the system on which the party in his own State, of 
which he is the reputed licad, constantly acts. He was among the first of the Secretaries to 
apply that system to the dismission of Clerks in his Department, known t« me to be highly 
meritorious, and among them one who is now a Represei>tative in the other House. It is a 
detestable system, drawn from the worst periods of the Roman Republic; and if it were to be 
perpetuated; if the oftices, honors, and dignities of the people were to be put up to a scram- 
ble, to be decided by the result of every Fresidenlial election, our government and institu- 
tions, becoming intolerable, would finally end in a despotism as inexorable as that at Constan- 
tinople. 

Sir, the liecessity under which we are placed is painful. But it is no fault of the Senate, 
whose consent and advice are required by the Constitution to consummate this appointment, 
that the Minister has been sent out of the United States without their concurrence. I hope 
that the public will not be prejudiced, by his rejection, if ha should be rejected. And I teel 
perfectly assured that, if the government towliich he has been deputed shall learn that he 
has been rejected because he has there, by his instructions to Mr. McLune, stained the char- 
acter of our country, the moral effect of our decision will greatly outweigh any advantages 
to be derived from his negotiations, whatever they may have been intended to be. 



Mr. brown. 

Mr. BROWN said, that, unwilling as he had been to participate in this discussion, he 
could not, injustice to his own feelings, and to the distinguished individual whose nomina- 
tion as Minister to England was then before the Senate, refrain from giving utterance to the 
mingled sentiments of indignation and regret, at the course wkicit llie debate had taken — a 
course whicli struck him as at least extraordinary, and extremely unjust towards the no. 
minee. 

The acrimony with which Mr. Van Buren had been assailed, I'^c epithets which had becrj 
so liberally besiowed upon him, required some vindication at the hands of those who were 
favorable to confirming his nomination, against the injurious, and, as he believed, unwar- 
wantable charges which had been preferred against him. He would here take leave to remind 
gentlemen, that reproachful epithets afforded but a poor substitute for argument, and more 
especially when addressed to a body whose deliberations should be governed by calm and 
dispa.ssionate consideration. 

The Senate had bee:i told by the honorable gentleman (Mr. Clay,) who had preceded 
him in this debate, that Mr. Van Buren, when acting as Secretary of State, had disgraced 
his country, by certain expressions contained in his instructions given to Mr. McLane, late 
Minister to Kngland, in relation to the negotiation between the United States and Great 
Britain, on the subject of the VA'est India trade. Waiving all discussion as to whom the re- 
sponsibility should attach, for instructions given to our foreign ministers, whetlier to the 
President of the United States or to his Secretary of State, he would concede to those op- 
posed to the nomination the principle contended' for by them, that the Secretary of State 
was responsible for his official conduct, to the fullest extent. He knew Mr. Van Buren too 
well, to believe, for a moment, that he would desire that any shield should be interposed to 
screen him from a proper responsibility; he believed he would sooner court the strictest 
inquiry, than endeavor to esc;»pe from it. But to return to the instruction: What was the 
language which was deemed so exceptionable? In order to remove the impression that a 
feeling of hostility was felt in this country towards Great Britain, which the improvident 
course of the late administration, in relation to the AVest India trade, had produced, the late 
Secretary of State had alluded in his instructions to the change which the people of the United 
Stales had made, in those who administered our Government, in the following language :— 
•• The opportunities which you have derived, from a participation in our public councils, 
" as well as other sources of information, will enable you to speak with confidence (as far 
" nsi,6u may deem it proper and usejul so to do) of the respective parts taken by those to 
•• whom the administration of this Government is now committed, in relation to tlie course 
«' heretofore pursued upon the subject of the colonial trade. Their views upan that point 
" have been submitted to the people of the United States, and the counsels by which your 
*' conduct IS now directed, are the result of the judgment expressed by the only earthly tri- 
«« bunal to which the late Administration was amenable for its acts." In making thissog- 
gestion, Mr. Van Buren had asserted what was most true ; public opinion had discarded the 
late Administration from power, and the party to whom the people of the United States had 
committed the reins of Government, Ar/rf icm, and were then, favorable to the proposed 
arrangement— he could therefore recognise in this no solid objection ; but to his mind it had 
more the appearance of the captiousness of verbal criticism, than any thing else. If there 



19 

Tvas any thing in the langiia(:;e whicli lie liad noticed of a snbmiiSne tone, as gentlemen had 
supposed, by procecdinp a little further in the instructions, they wonid have found language 
which would efiectualiy have removed all their apprehensions, and shows if the late Secre- 
tary of State knew' how to use the langua|je of conciliation, he also knew how to speak in a 
tone of m^nly firmness when urging' the just claims of his country. 

That part of the instructions to which he had reference was as follows ; " If Great Britain 
*' deems it adveise to her interests to allow us to participate in the trade with her colonies, 
*' snd finds nothing in the extension of it to others to induce her to apply the same rule to 
" us, she will, we hope, be sensible of the propriety of placing her refusal on those grounds. 
♦' 'I'o set up the acts of the late Administration as the cause of forfeiture of privdcges which 
♦* would otherwise be extended to ihe people of the United States, would, under existing 
** circumstances, be unjust in itself, and could not fail to excite their deepest sensibility. The 
'• tone of feeling whicli a course so unwise and untenable is calculated to produce, would 
•* doubtless be greatly aggravated," &c. Here was language firm and spirited, and indicat- 
ing any thing else but a disposition to yield or compromit the honor of the country, and he 
could but consider it as extremely unjust on the part of the opponents of the nomination, to 
single out detached parts ot the instructions, without adverting to their general tenor, and 
viewing them as a whole — the only fair rule to be resorted to in the exposition of public 
documents. 

But to come back to the charge of disgrace whicli iiad been so strongly urged and relied 
tipon. How, sir, has the Minister to England disgraced his country ? Where was the evi- 
dence of the imputed disgrace to be found ? Was it to be found in the fact, that an arrangc- 
iTient h'td been made between the United States and (ireat Britain, in relation to her colo- 
nial trade, substantially on the very same basis as that proposed under the administration of 
Mr. Adams? — and were gentlemen ivha then approved that measure, now prepared to con- 
demn the present Administration for having succeeded in forming such an arrangement with 
the British Government as the late Administration had profl'ered, and had failed to accom- 
plish' Sir, said Mr. B, it appears to me that there lies the rub : the objection to Mr. Van 
Buren, he feared, with some gentlemen, was not that he had done too little, but th.at he had 
done too muck. Under his auspices as Secretary of State, a restoration of the West India trade 
had been efTected, which the late Administration had, by several successive missions, in 
vain endeavored to effect for several years. 

He called on gentlemen who had spoken so pathetically of their country's disgrace, to 
adduce some proof in support of the charge. When had the American name stood more 
honored abroad .' Under Avhat Administration, from the origin of the Government to this 
lime, had the national character held a more lofty elevation ? There was no civilized coun- 
try, but what American character, American institutions, were themes of the highest pane- 
gyric, and in none more than in that country with whom this dishonorable transaction is said 
to fiavc taken place. 'I'hc lively sensibility which the President had on all occasions shown 
to the honor of his country, forbade the supposition that he would ever have sanctioned in- 
structions to a foreign Minister, by which the character of his country was to be comprom- 
ised. Thr.t he had authorized the language of conciliation to be used, in the instructions to 
the .Minister to England, was most honorable to him. From what President could a "-pirit 
of conciliation and courtesy towards Eiigland come, with more propriety, than from him, by 
whose valor in the field her pride had been humbled ? 

Tiiereis no m,irk more infallible, as regards the'dcgree of wisdom with which a nation is 
governed, than the respectability of that nation in otiier countries. All history will testify 
to the truth of the remark, that an administration conducted feebly is contemptible abroad, 
and that which is condticted with wisdom and vigor never fails to secure respect. 

Mr. Btjown said he would not institute a comparison between the management of our di- 
plomatic affaiis, under the present administration, and that which hail preceded it, and it 
would be from no apprehension that the result would not redound greatly to the credit of 
the existing Administration. 

Mr. Van Buren had, he believed, while acting as Secretary of State, accomplished more 
in less time than any of his predecessors. Comparatively inexperienced in the new station 
in which he had been called to act, the ease with which he had adapted himself to it, the 
I'apidity with which he had comprehended the arduous aiid diflicult duties of Secretary of 
State, bore honorable testimony to his abilities as a statesman. 

It had been objected to the nominee, that he had introduced into the Government of the 
United States, the party intrigues and discipline said to prevail in his own State. Without 
stopping to notice what he considered an unjust reflection on the public character of a great 
and patriotic member of this Confederacy,he called upon those who made the charge to sup- 
port it by proof. It was honorable to the reputation of Mr. Van Buren, both public and pri- 
vate, that when his enemies were asked to furnish evidence in support of the charges urged 
against him, that they were unable to fix upon him any one of them by the semblance of 
proof. Possessing talents of a high order, and rapidly growing in the esteem of his country- 
men, it was not a matter of surprise that he had been marked out as the victim of unmerited 
persecution. 

2 * 



20 

Mr. B. could conceive of no adequate reason or motives for rejecting the nomination of 
the Minister to Eng'land. He was peculiarly fitted for the station which he then filled. His 
thorough and intimate acquaintance witli the commercial relations of the two countries point- 
ed him out ?.s a fit and proper representative of our interests at tiie Court of Great Britain. 
The State of New York had repeatedly vouched for his character and standing, by bestow- 
ing on him the liighest civil honors within lier gift. Mr. B. said, he tiierefore considered it 
a duty which he owed to the country, and to the indivitlual then representing- us at the Court 
of Great Britain, to vote for confirming hisjnomination. 



Mr. EWING. 

Mr. EWING, of Ohio, said he rose for the purpose of replying to the Hon. Senator from 
Nortli Carolina, (Mr. Bhow.v) and witli a view also to add sometliing to what iiad been said 
by the Hon. Senator from Massachusetts, (Mr. Webster,) wiio liad placed the question be- 
fore the Senate in nearly all the, aspects in wliioh it had presented itself to his (Mr. E'sv) 
mind. 

The Hon. Senator from North Carolina has said, that the treaty negociated by our Minister 
at I-ondon, under tiie instructions which are now the subject of aniniadversion, is a splendid 
treaty — that it hasyieUkcl, and will yield a golden harvest to our people ; and that it is the 
success of llie negocialion, casting all others in tlie shade, which l»as excited envy and an- 
imosity against the parties concerned in that brilliant transaction. Sir, said Mr. E. it is the 
common resort of all men when brought to answer for a misdemeanor, to retort the charge 
ol envy, or enmity, against their accusers. Pretences of this kind can always by advanceil 
— though net always sustained ,- and when supported by evidence, and not resting on mere 
assertion they are entitled to no weight, except in] those cases in which the accusation to be 
repelled, rests for its support upon the evidence of the envifJiis and malignant accuser. 

Wh.at has it to do with the question before the Senate, whether the nominee is the subject 
of love or hatred — of malice or good will J* Here is no room for talsehood, and little for mis- 
construction. We have before us, under his own sign manual, the very paper on which we 
must acquit or condemn him. We liave it before us here, sir — it will go abroad to the nation 
and the world, with the sanction or censure of the Senate stamped upon it. Friendship 
cannot brighten, nor envy deepen its shades. Before ns, and before the American People, 
upon its own merits, must it stand or fill. Nor does the Hon. Senator touch the question 
under discussion, when he tells us that an arrangement eflected pursuant to these instruc- 
tions is advantageous to the United States— that it adds to our commerce, anrl puts money in 
the pockets of our people. 1 neither admit nor deny !iis assumptions as to that fact, for it is 
not now a proper time forthc discussion of th.it subject. On another day, on a fit occasion, 
and with open doors, shall ^I trust) tlils matter be investigated, aiid then, perhaps, tlieir gold- 
en visions will vanish into air. But itis not the arrangement to whlclt I now object, but 
the manner in which it was sued for. Let it be, if gentlemen please, a splendid boon, a gold- 
en gift obtained from Great Britain by the supei-ior talents and favor of this subtle Secre- 
tary — that gold is bought loo dear, which is purchased at tiie expense of our national honor — 
which is sued for — beirged for of a British Minister — knelt for — pr.ayed for — before a British, 
or any other earthly tin-one. 

But, sir, said Mr. E. tliis tone of sibmisslon, of supplication, and apology, is not to my 
mind the most objectionable characteristic of this paper. We have, it is true, since the first 
fornaation of our Governmeiit been divided into parties a/ /to//<e. Our people have differed 
in the choice of their rulers. Sometimes on principle — sometimes, merely as to men ; but 
heretofore, whether in peace or war, abroad we have presented an undivided front, and 
never before has there been a solitary instance in which our dissensions have l:eei\ sent 
abroa<l by the accredited agents of our Government, and urged as argument for the con- 
sideration of a foreign Power. But, by this despatch, sir, our family quarrels, our private 
animosities, which, in common decency, ought to ille witliln our own doors, are presented in 
bold relief, and made the subject of earnest representation to the Biitish crown. For lohal 
honest purpose is this thing done? Does any man suppose tiiat tlie British Minister or the 
British Monarch cares who is at tlie head of our Government, unless they expect to profit 
by the .iscenflency of some individual or parly ? If it were " the country, the whole country, 
and nothing but the country,-'' wliich the Secretary sought.to benefit by this official act, why 
<lld he urge to F^ngland, (for It mattered not to tl»em,)"lhe f(/>//j;o/)s ot tlie dominant party in 
this country I Sir, the American Kepubllc— tlie nation— Is lost sight of in this despatch, 
and the Minister is instructed to present himself at the British Court as the emissary of those 
who liad come into power,fis he assumes, because they supported British claims against Mmev- 
erican pretensions. 1 once more ask the attention of the Senate to a paragraph of this de- 
spatch. 

" The oppportunities which you have derived from a participation in our public councils, 
" as wellas other sources of information, will enable you to speak with confidence ( as far as 
" you may deem it proper and useful so to do) of the respective parts taken by those to 
" whom the administration of this Government is now committed, in relation to the course 



n 

♦'heretofore piiisued upon tlie subject of the colonial trade. Their views upon thai point 
"" have been submitted to the People of the United States ; and the councils by which your 
*' conduct is now directed arc the result of the judgment expressed by the only earthly tri- 
*• bunal to which the late administration was amenable for its acts. It should be sufficient 
*' that the claims set up by ihem, and which caused the interruption of the trade in question, 
" have been explicitly abandoned by those who first asserted them, and are not. revived by 
*• their successors. If Cireat Britain deems it adverse to her interests to allow us to par- 
" ticipate in the trade with her colonies, and finds notliing' in the extension of it to others to 
*' induce her to apply the same rule to us: she will, we hope, be sensible of the propriety of 
*• placing her refusal on those grounds. To set up the acts of the late administration as 
*' the cause of forfeiture of privileges which would otherwise be extended to the People of 
*' the United States, would, under existing circumstances, be unjust in itself, and could not 
" fail to excite their deepest sensibility. Tiie tone of feeling which a coiu'se so unwise and' 
"untenable is calculated to produce, would doubtless be greatly aggravated by the con- 
** sciousness that Great Britain has, by Order in Council, opened her colonial ports to Rus- 
** sia and France, notwithstanding a similar omission on their part to accept the terms of- 
" fered bytiieact of July, 1825. You cannot press this view of the sul)ject t»o earnestly 
** upon the consideration of the British ministry. It has bearings and relations that reach 
"beyond tiie immediate question under discussion." 

" i will add nothing as to the impropriety of suf?'ering any feelings that find their origin 
** in tiie past preten^ons of this Government to have an adverse influence upon the present 
" conduct of Great Britain." 

Can any one read this miserable paragraph, mystified and involved as it is, and doubt for 
a moment as to its interpretation? You will be able io speak with confidence fas far us ynu 
may think it proper and useful so to do J of the course pursued by those now in power, in rela- 
tion to the colonial trade. What is this but saying, in other words, to the American Envoy — 
'i'ell the British Minister that we who are now in power supported British claims, and op- 
posed American prctensio7is, as to the colonial trade; our opinions upon that subject were 
submitted to the American People, and, because we entertained views favorable to British 
claims, and hostile to American pretensions, the people placed us in power, and prostrated 
our opponents.' This is the plain reading of that part of the despatch, when stripped of its 
circumlocution. Is this true, sir? And, if it were true, is it, I ask, the kind of message with 
which an American Minister is to be sent to a foreign court — thus to humble and debase 
himself, and degrade, if not libel his countrymen — especially to the haughty court of Great 
Britain? 

But this is not all. Warmed with this subject, and new light breaking in upon him as he 
proceeds, the Secretary closes this paragraph in his despatch with this special injunc- 
tion: " You cannot press this view of the suited too earnestly upon the consideration of the 
British Mi?ustry. It has bearings and relations that reach beyond the immediate question un- 
der discussion," 

" You cannot press this view of the sulked loo earnestly." Wiiat view? Why, that those 
who favored American pretensions, have been put down — and we, who support British 
«&t/TOa, are lords of the ascendant. But why press this earnestly upon the consideration of 
the British Ministj-y? Because, adds the despatcli, it has bearings and relations which 
reach beyond the immediate question under discussion. And what were these iean're^a and 
relations? On what did this view of the subject bear? — to| what did it lelate, beyond the 
simple question of the colonial trade, if indeed it could have borne on that? Sir,the motive 
Itukiiig in the heart of the writei* of this despatch, is here disclosed. He stands the self-de- 
elared representative of a party — holding out, as a partisan, professions of submission and 
subservience to Great Britain — and claiming as the reward of liis adherence to her interests, 
tiie concession of privileges which had been withhekl when treated for in tiic name and in 
behalf of the nation. The concessions on the one part, and the boons and privileges on the 
other, were not intended to terminate in the matter then under discussiop. No, they had 
bearings and relations which reached beyond, very much beyond them. Do but convince 
the British Ministry that the Secretary ii devoted to their will, and the advocate of their 
interests, would they not in turn lend their aid to secure his advancement? Have they not the 
same motive in giving a President to the United States that Russia once had in giving a 
King to Poland? In his view, it was easily done. Let the Ministry yield to his solicitations 
as & partisan, what they had refused to the manly diplomacy of the nation; and let the 
American People feel, or be persuaded that they feel, pecuniary benefits resulting from 
these concessions. Then let the British presses be made to teem with praises of the can- 
dor, skill, and talent of the American diplomatists. The weight of foreign influence, with 
political tactics and party organization at home, he might reasonably suppose to be irresis- 
tible. And then, sir, having reached the summit of his ambition, could he not reward his 
august friend and ally, by yielding up other American pretensions to other British claims? Sir, 
the British nation^has for a century past held a controlling influence over the politics of Eu- 
rope. It has been the " setter up and putter down of Kings." States and nations have re- 
ceived their gold, and become their pensioners} and it is not probable, if the lure is thus held 



22 

out to them by our men in power, that they will be slow in seizing an occasion to control 
also our destinies. 

It i3 for these reasons, in addition to those already urged, that I have made up my mind 
to vote against this nomination. I liave reflected on tlie subject, deliberately, calmly, and I 
hope impartially. The oflice is high and responsible. The stations which tlve nominee has 
heretofore filled, have been elevated and conspicuous. I have felt, sir, and still feel, the 
responsibility under which I act in refusing my assent to this nomination; bu'. I refuse it witli- 
out hesitation or doubt. Sir, if a man without fortune and without name, an officer hold- 
ing some humble post, had sinned as deeply in his spiiere as t'.id this nominee in his, he 
would have been suffered, by common consent, to sink into oblivion, perhaps into infamy. 
And surely our censure should not fall with less weight on the political sins of the high, 
than of the humble in station. 

In coming to this conclusion, I for one have given little weight to the many rumors which 
are rife in the land touching the poHtical character and conduct of this nominee in other 
matters than that here developed. Something, indeed, it has weighed upon my mind, that 
he is now, by an arrangement which appears to be his own, our accredited Minister at that 
very court to which he thus pressed his partisan claims; and where, if he chose to do it, 
he could best mature a project for bringl ng/orcign influence to bear upon his political for- 
tunes at home. But chiefly I rest my censure upon the despatch which is before us, and 
in which I cannot be deceived. 



Mr. POINDEXTER. 

Mr. POINDEXTER rose, and said, that an absence of several weeks from the Senate, 
occasioned by indisposition, had, as he was informed, been the cause of some delay in the 
final action of the Senate on this nomination. 

He regretted tiie circumstance, and even now that he was enabled to resume the dis- 
charge of his duties, he could but ill requite the kind indulgence of the Senate, in postponing 
the question on his account, by any eftort of his, to investigate the claims of tl>e nominee to 
public confidence, inasmuch as the delicate state of his health would not permit him to enter 
at large into the various interesting toj/ics which iiad been adverted to in the remarks of the 
honorable Senators who had preceded him in the debate. 

Sn-, said Mr. PoiNDEXTtH, 1 have risen to perform an unpleasant, but an imperative duty, 
from which I cannot withdraw without subjecting my motives to misconception, or misrepre- 
sentation, in relation to my vote on the question now before tiie Senate. Having nothing to 
gam by tl>e rejection of this nomination, and nothing to hope, should it be confirmed, I can 
feel, Mr. President, no otlier solicitude on the subject, than that which arises from a sense 
of the solemn duty which I owe to my country, and an ardent desire to preserve the honor 
and dignity of the America^ people, free from the stain of that moral turpitude and vicious 
mtngue, which cover the corrupt governments of Europe with infamy and disgrace. For 
this purpose, and for no otlier purpose whatever, either of a personal or political character, 
1 have endeavored to inform myself, by all the means within my resch, of the factii and cir- 
cumstances touching the merits of the individual wiiose nomination is now under considera- 
tion. I have adopted this course the more readily, because it vvas, I understand, on a pre- 
vious day, recommended by honorable Senators, in favor of the nominee, in preference to a 
full and formal investigation by a committee of the Senate, which liad been proposed by an 
honorable Senator from Maine, [Mr. Holmkb.] Mr. Van Buren has been long in the public 
eye, has filled higli and important political stations, and the influence of his public conduct 
may be traced in every department of the government. Whether, therefore, his previous 
acts entitle him to the confidence of the Senate and of the nation, is a question whicli each 
gentleman must determine for himself; and I claim for myself the humble privilege of pre- 
sentiMg a concise summaiy of the grounds on which I hope to justify the vote, which I shall 
teel buund to give, on his nomination. Tiie evidence to which I shall refer, and which has 
operated on my judgment in this case, is drawn from the hislovy of the passine events of the 




23 

placed by General Jackson at the head of his constitutional advisers, preferring lilm to otlier 
distinguished gentlemen, whose support was of longer duration, and, to say the least, 
equally efficient, and whose talents would bear an advantageous comparison with tlie most 
enligiitened statesmen in tlie world. Tims promoted and flattered, wielding, as he did, 
the Executive arm of the nation, permit me lo ask wliat was th-^ conduct of Mr. Van Buren, 
tlien Secretary of the Department of State? Was llie honor and welfare of tlte countr}', or the 
purity of its ctiaracter, objects nearest to Ijis heart? Was his mind free from tlie bias of undis- 
ciplined ambition; or was he exclusively devoted to his own elevation, regardless of the means, 
or of the honor of his venerable ciiief, and of the integrity of the parly which brought him into 
power? 1 cannot ansv/er these grave questions by any thing which falls within tlie scope of 
my own personal knowledge; but if there be truth iit facts which have been detailed to mc 
by men of the first rank in the nation, and which I am bound to believe, until contradicted 
by evidence still more imposing, his whole cour?e was marked by a systematic tissue of dark 
and studied intrigue, which, in its consequences, swept into chaos the elements of that pa- 
triotic band who fought tlie battle, and gained the splendid victory in 1828, which placed on 
the brow of the hero of New Orleans the civic wreath of his grateful country. Discarding 
all personal considerations, for I have neither revenge nor political aspirations to gratify, anil 
if I had, they would not enter these walls to influence my deliberations in matters of na- 
tional concern, I ask only the lights of truth to guide me to a decision which shall accord 
with strict and impartial justice, and secure to me the approbation of an enlightened people, 
and what is still more precious, the smiles of an approving conscience. 

If, then, the friends of the nominee deem the information wliicli I have received, and on 
whicii, for the present, 1 must rely, inaccurate or susceptil)le of satisfactory explana- 
tion, I invite them, I urge them, in justice to their friend, to rescue him from every 
shade of suspicion whicii may be cast on him, by the appointment of a committee, to 
be chosen by this honorable body, who sh:«Il be charged with the duty of collecting 
all the testimony whicli can be adduced, eitlier for or against the nominee, and making 
a fiiithful report of it to the Senate ; and if the result should be such as to satisfy my 
mind that the nominee is innocent of the unworthy conduct whicii has been ascribed 
to him, my vote will be given in favor of his nomination, with more real pleasure than 
1 can feel in obeying the dictates of duty, by denying to him my support. To such a 
committee I am authorized to furnish the names of several gentlemen, higii in the con- 
fidence of the country, who are ready to testify, on oath, if required, to all the facts 
which they have authorized me to communicate to the Senate on the present occasion, 
in a much more enlarged and satisfactory manner than it is m my power to give to them. 
Hut I must be permitted to remark, that if tliis invitation is declined by the friends of 
Mr. Van Buren, my vote must be recorded against his nomination, confiding, as I do, 
in the honorable sources from which my information is derived. I forbear to dwell on 
the novel and extraordinary character of the instructions given by Mr. Van Buren to 
Mr. McLane, our late minister to London, on the subject of opening the West India 
Trade. The views presented of the nature and character of these instructions, by oth- 
er gentlemen, leave me nothing to add but the expression of my deep regret that, un- 
der any circumstances, the Secretary of State, acting, either under the. influence of 
his own passions or prejudices, or by tlie instructions of the President, should deem it 
compatible with the dignity of his station, or the elevated character of his country, to 
approach the throne of a foreign monarcli in the style of supplication, asking favors on 
the humiliating assurance that the parly to which he belonged, exercising the powers 
of government, were better entitled to his tender mercies than their predecessors in 
office, who, it seems, had been guilty of the crime of demanding, under color of right, 
from his Majesty, concessions in favor of American commerce wiiich a more enligiiten- 
ed administration, recently brought into power by an overwhelming majority of the 
people, were ready to abandon as unfounded "pretensions." Sueli an appeal was un- 
necessary, and unworthy of a statesman representing the interests and honor of a great 
and powerful nation in its intercourse wiiii Foreign Powers, and merits the reproof of 
this honorable body as an integral part of the Executive. 

But, Mr. President, wliat is tlie history of the comluct of Mr. Van Buren in refer- 
ence to his intercourse with the Cliief Magistrate, and those associated with him in the 
administration at the Seat of the National Government > He entered tiie councils of 
President Jackson with sullen reserve on his brow, under whicli he concealed all his opin- 
ions on the great questions wliicli ajjitated tlie nation. He seized on circumstances whicli 
pre-existed Ins inilncllon into ofHce, novel in tiieir ciiaracter in tlils country, but familiar at 
the Court of Louis tiie rifteenth, in France, anil of Ciiarles the Second of England, by means 
of which, he contrived to "ride upon the whirlwiiul, and direct the storm," and to render 
the credulous and confiding Clilef, whose weakness he flattered, and whose prejudices he 
nourished, subservient to all his purposes, personal and political. His plans of operutioa 
were shrouded in darkness and mystery, and executed by tlie arm of power, nerved by the 
recent development of public opinion, for the accomplislimeiit of his ulterior views — whicli 
knew no limit short of controlling and directing the destinies of the nation. Tlie establish- 



ed practice of every preceding administration, to hold cabinet councils, was abolished, and 
the secret macliincry of political intrigue was put into successful operation, worked by the 
skill of the master spirit behind tl)e curtain. No board of consultation around the tureen 
cloth was held, where each member was required to unfold his sentiments freely and franklv 
of men and measures connected with national polic)'. 

No principles were promuljjated as the standard by which the people might test the claims 
of the administration to their confidence and support. Every thing w.as involved in doubt 
and uncertainty, in order to catch the breeze of popular impulse in whatever direction it 
might set, and to conform to its overwhelming influence. The Southern politician who com- 
plained of oppression, was soothed, flattered, or ihrcalened, according to the thermometer 
which regulated the political atmosphere around the walls of the palace. The monopolists 
and office hunters received assurances to satisfy their utmost wishes and expectations, and 
the doctrines of the " American System" were adopted and repudiated according to calcula- 
tions founded on a well arranged scale of political profit and loss. 

An efl'ort to restore the ancient usage of cabinet councils, made by a few of the most de- 
voted friends of Gen. Jackson, was repelled with indignation, and the friendly interposition 
falsely ascribed to personal liostilily to a particular member of his cabinet. These gentle- 
men have ever since been looked on witii distrust and suspicion by the President. 

Thus protected from all interference on the part of his associates in power, and from pub- 
lic animadversion, Mr. Van Bnren shaped his course to suit ihe crisis, keeping steadily ia 
view his ultimate elevation to the first ofiice in the gift of a free people. Possessed, as he 
was, ot tiie unlimited confidence of Gen Jackson, he very soon found free access to his ear, 
and by appropriate advances, led him into excesses, and errors, fatal to the tranquihty of 
the country, without affording the slightest evidence that he, in any manner, participated 
in producing the results which he anxiously desired to accomplish. The proscriptive poli- 
cy, pushed, as it was, to extremities which the public interest did not seem to require, and 
far beyond the practice of any other Chief Magistrate, has been universally attributed to the 
•ndvice and i)ifUience of Mr. Van Huren. 'I'his system, combined with the whole patronage 
of Government, w as, as far as practicable, placed at his discretion, to smooth the way to the 
idterior object of his ambition, lie made himself almost tiie sole adviser of the President 
during the first two years of his administration, and every one who stood in his way was 
made to feel the power of Executive denunciation. To this cause may be attributed the 
unprovoked ruptui-e between the first and second officers of this Government ^ the jirostra- 
tion of those noble and high-minded friends to whose unwavering exertions, and lofty elo- 
quence, Gen. Jackson must feel himself indebted tor his success in the late contest for the 
I'residency ; and, finally, the dissolution of the cabinet, and the consequent nomination of 
Mr. Van IJuren as Minister to the Court of London. 

I have, Mr. President, been put in possession of a communication, tracing, with great mi- 
nuteness, and I have, no doubt, accurately, the means resorted to by Mr. Van Buren to pro- 
duce the rupture between General Jackson and those honorable men who had accepted his 
invitation to become members of his political family. 1 forbear to read this paper to the 
Senate, because of the peculiar matters of which it treats, but 1 hold myself ready to deliver 
it, with ll'.e iiame of the author, to any committee of investigation which may be appointed 
to embody the evidence on this subject. I have also received, from a gentleman now in 
this city, a statement of a conversation held with the late Secretary ol State, after he had 
surrendered the seals of office, wiiich I beg leave to lay on tiie table, as tlie facts it details 
are intimately coimected with those transactions which have occupied so large a share of 
the j)ublic attention^ and which I regret to say have never been explained in a manner to 
satisfy the moral feeling of the country. Of the writer of this communication, 1 have very 
little personal knowledge ; but he has the most respectable testimonials of his good charac- 
ter ami conduct ; and, 1 am informed, has been favorably known as the edjlcir of a Journal in 
New York, friendly to the present administration of the gover)nnent. For myself, 1 do not 
ilouht the verity of his statement, and 1 submit it, without comment, to those who desire iu- 
ibrmalion en the matters to which it relates. 

Mr. President, in addition to the unbroken current of testimony to which ! have r.Iready 
adverted, showing most clearly the foul means employed by the late Secretary of State to 
appropriate the name and well-earned fame of Gen. Jackson to the advancement of his own 
ambitious projects, and to overthrow all who obstructed his path to pohtical power, I ieel it 
to be my duty to give to the Senate the substance of a conversation which took place be- 
tween the President and a member of his late cabinet, simidtaneously with its dissolution. 
Sir, the dislinguislied gentleman who made the statement of tiiis interview is too far above 
Buspiciou to need from nie the eulogy which his character, public and ])>ivate, so justly 
merits. His ejection from a station which he did not seek, tlie duties of which he discharg- 
ed witii so much credit to hlniselt and advantage to his country, is a melancholy evidence of 
the traihy of political friendships, when assailed by the ruthless intrigues of an ambitious as- 
pirant. Hut, sir, the frowns of a delinquent friend, clothed with the panoply of power, are 
impotent and harmless, when the intended victim is protected by the mild radiance of virtue, 
and the shield of imperishable liouor. The President invited this gentleman to a private 



25 

audience, for the purpose of making known (o liim the new arrangements on wliich he 
had determined. He commenced with an air of diplomatic caution, and studied precision. 
" Sir, I submit to you two letters, wliich I have received from tlie Secretary of State, and 
the Secretary of War, resigning tlieir respective offices, and ask for them your serious con- 
sideration." " Sir," replied the astonished Secretary, "1 am a pUin man, and your friend. 
Our intercourse has been of long- duration, and you know that diplomacy is no part of my 
character or yours. Be so good, tlierefore, as to tell me, frankly, what you intend, and 
wiiat you desire of me." '• Then, sir, I will inform you that 1 mean to reorganize my cabi- 
net." " Very well, sir, 1 hope you will profit by the change. 1 have not been your friend 
for the sake of office, and I wish only to be informed whether my conduct wiiile in your 
cabinet was satisfactory to you." " Sir," siid tlie President, •' 1 hive no fault to find with 
you." " With this assurance," said the Secretary, " I am contented i but allow me to in- 
quire wlio is to be your Secretary of State." " Mr. Livingston," was the reply. "Who 
is to take the Treasury Department?" " Mr. McLane, now minister in England." " Who 
will occupy the Navy Department?" •• Mr. Woodbury.' •' And pray, s'.r, who is to re- 
place Mr. McLane in England." " Mr. Van Bdkf.n." And so tiie conversation ended. 

'I'he inference which is inseparable from these disclosures must be obvious to every man 
whose mind is in search of truth, and whose judgment is free from the " malign influence" 
of prejudice. 

The finger of a disciplined intriguer is visible in all the various efforts made to dismiss 
particular members of the Cabinet, from an early period afl^r the inauguration of Gen. Jack- 
son, until it was effected in 183L The object cannot be mistaken ; and at this day the /?ia- 
nagers scarcely attempt to conceal their fixed purpose of designating Mr. Van Buren as the 
successor of the present Chief Magistrate " nolens volens," as they are pleased to express it. 
Sir, on what data can we reconcile the prompt and unhesitating answer given by the Presi- 
dent to each inquiry relating to the individuals who were to compose the new Cabinet, other 
than a preconcerted and explicit arrangement, formed on mature deliberation, and a free 
and full consultation with those whose political opinions he was accustomed to take on all 
subjects of great and absorbing interest to the country ? 

Is not tlie fact as distinctly known to every one acquainted with the political movements 
at the seat of the National Government, as any on record, that for more than a year preced- 
ing the rupture of the late Cabinet, no consultations were held, and but a formal intercourse 
kept up between the President and liiree of his constitutional advisers .' It cannot, and I 
liresume will not, be denied, tiiat tlie Secretary of State had so managed as to occupy the 
first phice in the confidence and aflieclions of the Cliief Magistrate. The only rational con- 
elusion, tlierefore, to which I can bring my mind, after a careful and impartial examination 
of this whole subject, is, that liie Secretary of State, prior to his own voluntary resignation, 
had not only asceriainetl that a general sweep was to be made of all tliose whose influence 
he dreaded, and who could not be induced " to bend the knee to Baal," but had organized 
a new Cabinet, and, " though last not least," had taken especial caie to open an avenue 
tlirough which he might with safety retreat, and plant himself in a situation still more com- 
manding in the public eye, and belter calculated to accelerate the consummation of his ul- 
terior purposes. " Who is to replace Mr. McLane in England ?" •* Mr. Van Buren " Sir, 
the time at wliich this declaration was made is very remarkable ; it preceded tlie jiublication 
oF^he modest f//p/owa</c letter of resignation, in whicli tlie Secretary of State attempts to 
mystify the causes which had operated on his mind, in surrendering the higli trust to which 
he had been called by the President. He artfully seeks, in that anomalous communication, 
to excite the sympathies of the American People by pretended selfim/nolation, at the shrine 
of pure, disinterested patriotism. He retired to the shades of private life, to disentangle the 
Administration of President Jackson, and to restore harmony in his councils! No sinister 
motive lingered in ijie mind of the unbought patriot — no mission to Lai.di)n in the vista — but 
the noble sacrifice is magnanimously ofllred up on tlie altar of public good, with the reser- 
vation of such future rewards as a grateful Piojde might bestow, on one whose merits could 
only be excelled by the purity of his intentions ! Sir, would it be credited by a virtuous 
and enlightened People that, at the very moment when these high-souled sentiments and 
patriotic professions were unblushingly thrown before the world, the individual who appro- 
priated them to himself held the guaranty, that, in lieu of the office which he resigned, he 
sliould forthwith be created Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court 
of St. James ? And yet the fact is established, by the conversation I have quoted, and strongly 
corroborated by the letter of the President, in which he reluctantly accepts the resignation. 
Mr. President, I can view this nomination in no other light, than the result of a systematic 
course of political gambling and intrigue, originating in personal ambition, and prosecuted 
with unrelenting ostracism and proscription, on every high-minded statesman in the nation 
who refused to subscribe to the articles of faith dictated by this nominee, and prescribed a? 
a test by which the patronage of the Government should be dispensed tiiroughout this wide- 
ly extended country. The succession to the Presidential Chair must be secured to this 
court favorite, and the means to accomplish this end were placed at his disposal. Under 
these impressions, I should be guilty of a gross dereliction of duty to the President, and my 



26 

own conscience, by advisingf and conseutin.^ to tliis nomination. I beg to be informed of 
the necessity of so much baste in <le.spatcl»ing' a Minister to London. No negotiations were 
pendinpf wblcb required tbe presence of a Minister, wltii full powers, at that Court. En;^- 
land was represented here by a Charg^ d'Affuires. We bad a diplomatic agent there of 
equal grade ; and surely the relations between the two nations might have been suffered to 
remain in this equitable condition until the annual meeting of Congress, wlien the advice 
and consent of tiie .Senate could have been asked before the public chest had been opened 
for the outfit and salary of a Minister. 

The ciicumstances connected witli this unnecessary precipitancy renders it obnoxious to 
the strongest objections, and warrants the conclusion that it was designed to operate on the 
action of the Senate, in tiieir deliberations on tliis nomination. I cannot subject my opinions 
to tiie control of a premature movement on the part of the Executive. Sir, I am aware that 
for this independent exercise of my best judgment, I shall be denounced by the press as the 
partisan of a competitor for the Presidential cliair. I spurn the imputation. At my time of 
life, I have nothing to hope from the smiles, still less to fear from the frowns of any man in 
power. I honor tiie man whose heart is pure ; whose actions tlirough life exhibit lucid 
proof that lie is honest in the cause of human liberty ; but, when 1 am invoked to give my 
sanction to dark intrigue, ]iolitical management and corruption, at the hazard of incurring the 
displeasure of " those who feel power and forget right," I will fearlessly and faithfully dis- 
charge the trust reposed in me by my country, by a firm vindication of the moral feeling of. 
the People who compose this young and gigantic republic. 1 will reprove and correct the 
influence of vice, by inflicting merited chastisement on all who perpetrate it. 

'I'he following is the letter referred to by Mr. P, : 

Waihtugton City, Jan. 2-1, 1832. 

Sir: I have tlie honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note, beariiipilftte this morning. It waa this moment 
handed nie, and although it is by no means desirable tu itand in the nttitude of a public accuser of any man hoUl- 
\n^ a high and responsible station in the government, yet, inasmncli ns I consider the subject matter of your 
inquiry as being one of no small degree of importance, t do not feel myself at liberty loshnnk from ihedisclmrgs 
of my duty, or withhold from an honorable Senator, approaching mc in his Senatorial capacity, any information 
which 1 may be in possession of, touching tlie subjict of his inquiry. Nevertheless, I regret that I am thus 
tailed upon to repeat any remarks which may have been inadvertently made to a friend. 

Soon alter the dissolution of Gen. Jackson's first Cabinet, while the Ex-Secretary of State, Mr. Van Buren, 
was in New-York, waiting the arrival of Mr. Louis McLane from the Court of St. .lames, I saw him. Being 
then the editor of a paper supporting the measures of the administration, I fe.t, as was natural, soma 
jntei-esl in the events which had transpired, and which were yet to transpire. I asked Mr. Van Buren who was 
to take the place of Mr. McLane at the Court of St. James? He replied that/ie had the offer of the mission, 
but that lie wa< yet undecided as to the propriety oficeepiiiig it. He said his friemis were of diirerent opinions 
as to the j'olicyof his leaving the country at that time, there being some arrangements to make in the Repub- 
lienn party for ftiture operations. He observed that he was anxious to have an interview with Mr. McLano 
before leaving, if he should conclude to go. On being interrogated by me as to the refi/ causes of the dissolu- 
tion of (he Cabinet, whether it was, as ha.s been alleged by some of the editors, cauved by Mrs. Eaton, or by a 
mutual dissension among the heads of departments ? he answered, that Mrs. Katon had no agency in the mat- 
ter, but that it was caused more by the conduct of Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Ingham, who desired the retirement 
of Oeii. Jackson from office at the expiraiion of the first lour yearj of his term of service, and who had endea- 
\ored to consummate their designs hy tiuducing the character oj' a c/iaste and virtuous ivuman. On remarking 
to Mr. Van Buren that I thougiu he had managed well to pass unscathed through the f^ery ordeal, he laugh- 
ingly replied, " Yes, I had seen for some two or three months the approach of trouble, and that a dissolution of the 
Cabinet wii/f< ensue— the materials of which it was composed being too discordant to continue togeiher in har- 
mony— and, to save myself, I thought it belter to retire in time, knowing that if/ led the way, tlie rest }nust fol. 
low ." 

Thtse, 1 believe, sir, if not the very expressions, are at least the subjtance of Mr. Van Bureu's remarks tome 
I must he permitted again to exjjress my regret at being thus calle<l on. Having been an original supporter of the 
jiretensions of GeneralJackeon to the presidency, and a faithful ajiinover of those of his acts which I deemed 
lorrict, and being now in letirement, I most sincerely deplore the occurrence of any circumstance which could 
draw mc btfore the public in an attitude that may appear so unfriendly to the Ailininistration. But, however 
unpleasant the tatk, when high and r. iponsible men call on me, and dut) demands a compliance with Uieir cull, 
•nine is not the province to refuse. I have the lionor to be, 

Mo-t respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Han. 0. Poindextcr. a.A.MUEL E. CLSMEXT. 



Mr. FORSYTH. 

[.sir. rOUSYTII makes no upoloj^y for the rough sketch he presents of the remarks made 
by liim in the Secret Sessions of the Senate, on the nomination of Mr. Van Iluren. The 
s.peeches against n nomination having been, for the first tlinn in the history of tiiis Govern- 
ment, thrown upon the people, it is due to llie person a^^sailed, that wliat was suggested on 
the other side siuiuld be known. Mr rousT-ru is well aware that, in executing his part of 
this duly, he has done justice neitiier to the subject nor to himself.] 

1 regret, .Mr. President, that tbe Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Poinuextf.u] has been so 
long absent from his l^eat, not only because he has been stiHeiing pain, but because, had he 
been here, he could have escaped the conmiission of numerous errors into whicli he has been 
led. The friends of Mr. Van Uuren liave not ol^structed inquiry into iiis conduct ; they have 
challenged investigation, offered it in every and any form consistent with tiie ol)ligations of 
the Senate to its own character. 'l"he Senator from Maine [.Mr. Holmes] shrunk from his 
own resolu'ion. It was laid aside by the votes of liiose op{)osetl, contrary to tbe votes and 
wishes of the (lieiuls of those friendly to the nomination. 'J'hat Senator was distinctly invit- 
ed by one of the Senators of Nesv Voik [Mr. Mahcv] to specily any act dishonorable to the 



21 

chftracter of Mr. Van Burcn, and a pledge given that the inquiry into it sIio«liI be made in 
the amplest manner by a Committee having all the powers necessary to the ebtablishment of 
truth. The Senator From Maine was distinctly told by the Senator from South Carolina, [Mr. 
Haynk,"] on what terms he could command his vote. He was told to cover the ground indi- 
cated, by proof, and lie would join in the condemnation of the choice of the President. The 
Senator from Maine deliberated on this ofter, and, after deliberation, abandoned his resolu- 
tion, leaving" all to grope their way to a conclusion, as accident or prejudice might direct them. 
A promise was made, that he should have a Committee, if he would venture upon it, and the 
otier was deliberately and most unequivocally declined. Yet, after all this, at this eleventh 
hour, the Senator from Mississippi says, if the friends of Mr. Van Buren will solicit a Com- 
mittee, he will give us what he has collected, while confined to his sick chamber, and on 
which his own opinion is formed ; and, if the Committee is not raised, he will, with this mat- 
ter in his pocket, vote against the nomination, in order to preserve the morality of tlie nation, 
endangered by tlie bestowal of a new office on a gambling politician. 

As ihe friend, personal and political, of Mr. Van Buren, I reject the liberal offer o(ihe Se- 
nator, in defiance of his threatened negative upon the nomination. Let him unite with those 
who, like hira, are so anxious to preserve the morality of the country by rejecting a man 
whose most odious crime is his rising popularity and transcendant ability. The friends of Mr. 
Van Buren will not degrade him by asking a Committee to free him from the suspicions en- 
gendered in the Senator's mind, in his search alter correct information, from sources within 
his reach. His character wants no such justification. Does the gentleman wish to justify his 
vote ? Let him propose a Committee ; he shall have our concurrence. Does he desire to 
convince the Senate ^ Let him produce the private source. Information which, I venture 
to say, like the only one he speaks oi openly, is worthless in the eye of any man who is not so 
embittered by prejudice that he cannot see truth. This letter, by a former partisan, a paltry 
editor of a paltry newspaper, and to prove what ? That Mr. Van Buren said that the late 
Cabinet was dissolved by the conspiracy of the Vice President, to drive Maj. Eaton from the 
Cabinet, and that he withdrew to escape the consequences of the dissolution. Sir, Mr. Van 
Buren holds ne such conversations with persons who were once his partisans, and now his 
enemies. 

But, supposing he !)ad declared, or does entertain, the opinion imputed to iiim. Is it a 
crime which disqualifies him for a high office, that he believes the cliarge made and sought 
to be established by the late Secretary of War ? If sucii be tiie Senator's opinion, can he 
tell us how far the exclusion extends ? Tiie Senator's letter story is contradicted by his pre- 
viou.'^ly expressed opinion. What, sir, the most artful man in the world proclaim to a paltry 
editor that he acted in the manner indicated, to escape the storm consequent on the dissolu- 
tion of the Cabinet ! If it had been true — if such had been iiis motive, he would have sougiit 
to conceal it from himself. No degree of confidential intimacy could have tempted an artful 
intriguer to such a disclosure. The story, if true, proves a man, whose extraordinary pru- 
dence, under all circumstances, through a long life in the stormy politics of a vexed and tur- 
bulent State, has gained him the confidence of his friends, and called down upon him the 
charge ofconsummate artifice from his eiiemies, to be a silly driveller! — a simpleton, opening 
his budget of petty motives to one whose trade was, to thrive by making liimself important 
by confidential and oracular disclosures in his unknown journal! 

Mr. Van Buren stands in a strange condition before us ; from the beginning of tiiis admin- 
istration, before he came to the post assigned to him, until the present hour, he is held ac- 
countable, by a certain description of political men in this country, for all the evil that has 
been done, and all the good tliat has been omitted. 

Now, sir, if he is accountable for every thing, if his haiul is to be traced every where, 
let him have credit for the good that has,and tiie evil that has not, been done. Balance the 
account , of the admitted good and evil imputed, and the result will fill the hearts of his 
enemies witli the bitterest disappointment. But, sir, tliis is not the justice intended for 
him. He is responsible for all that is complained of. Let us see the Senato" from Missis- 
sippi (Mr. PoiNUKXTKu's) catalogue. There were no Cabinet Councils. Did the country 
sufler from this failure to follow the example of late administrations, from tliis 
adherence to the example of General Wasliington. But there was one Cabinet Council 
called to sit on a lady's reputation. Indeed: and this Mr. Van Buren is also an- 
swerable for; and, is it true, sir, that the honorable members of the late Cabinet, who re- 
mained so tranquilly at their posts enjoying all their emoluments and honors with becoming 
gratification, suffered themselves to be deprived of their accustomed rights of a seat and 
voice at the Council Board of deliberations on great matters of vital interest to the public, 
and yet obeyed the beck and call of Mr. Van Buren, to sit upon a lady's leputation! Of 
what stuff were they made, that they did not distinctly ascertain if this restriction of claim- 
ed right, and this insulting call upon them to step out of their appropriate spheres, was 
the work of Mr. Van Buren, or the act of the President? If the first, why did they not de- 
mand his dismission, and, if refused, indignantly throw their commissions in the tc-eih of the 
Chief Magistrate? 

The omitted Cabinet Councils, and the single call, were no such dreadful oflences until 
obliged to follow Mr. Van Buren's example and resign, Tiie history of the Itst year esta- 



28 

blishes the wisdom of llie President in calling' no Cabinet Council to deliberate, as there 
could have been no harmony in their consultations, and on the single question said to have 
been submitted, the Ex Cabinet have shown themselves incompetent to decide. He is not 
competent to decide en a lady's reputation, who throws out of view, on the question of how 
she should be treated, her guilt or innocence. I will not condescend further to refer to the 
trasi) with which the public presses have been loaded and polluted for months, and unless the 
Senator from Mississippi lias better evidence than the public has yet seen, the hope of im- 
plicating' Mr. Van Buren in the disturbances that preceded the dissolution of the Cabinet, is 
forlorn. Let us see the next crime in the catalogue of the Senator from Mississippi, [Mr. 
PoiunEXTEn.] Mr. Van IJuren intrigued the dissolution of the late Cabinet, taking care 
previously to secure a safe and prominent retreat in tiie Mission to England. It is known 
to every well-informed man in this District, that Mr. Van Buren, by his admirable temper, 
his conciliating manners, and unwearied exertions, kept the Cabinet together long after its 
discordant materials were so well asceitained, that its dissolution, sooner or later, was a mat- 
ter of common speculation. Sir, nobody doubted that the parties could not get on together, 
and the only surprize was, that the I'resident did not proceed to restore harmony by the 
removal of those whose disagreements produced the discord. But Mr. Van Buren had the 
unparalleled efirontery to resign on motives of delicacy and disinterestedness, and as this mode 
of conduct was so unusual it has excited a vast deal of surmise and wonder. The Senator 
front Mississippi (Mr. P.) has however, satisfactorily to liimself, solved the mystery. Mr. 
Van Buren arranged himself into a prominent place before he resigned, and anew Cabinet to 
suit his ambitious views. Now, sir, as to the proof of this preconcerted arrangement for h.is 
accommodation and elevation. The President told somebody, who was a late Secretary, 
that Mr. Van Buren was to go to England, and named to him the Secretaries, who were to 
come in ; but this was afler Mr. Van Buren had resigned. In the inter\iew, it is acknowl- 
edged that Mr. Van Buren's letter of resignation was handed to this volunteer refieater of 
confidential conversation with the Chief Magistrate. But the Senator says it was before the 
letter was published — thence he concludes that Mr. Van Buren had made a cai's paw of the 
President, for the promotion of his own views : a most logical inference truly ! And this 
new Cabinet arranged to further Mr. Van Buren's unholy ambition ! Is tiiere a man, wo- 
man, or child in the country, who does not know and feel that the change has been benefi- 
cial to the public ; that there is now more strength, more virtue, and mure harmony, than 
there was before ? Is there any man who will hazard his reputation, by asserting that the 
present Secretaries are capable of being made tht instruments of any man's ambition, or so sub- 
ject to the imdue bias of individual influence, as the late ? Partizans are not substituted for 
pure, disinterested patriots ; and let me say, sir, that more partizans have gone out than liave 
come in. But this mission to England was not sought by Mr. Van Buren : his friends know 
that it was pressed on him by the President, and that it was reluctantly accepted at the 
earnest solicitations of friends who were satisfied it would promote his own reputation, and 
redound to the lionor and welfare of tlie Nation. 1 will not follow, further, the Senator's 
lead Long known to me .as a politician and as a man, acting together in the hour of politi- 
cal adversity, when we had lost all but our honor-a witness of his movements when elevated to 
power, and in the possession of the confidence of the Chief Magistrate, and of the great ma- 
jority of the people, 1 have never witnessed aught in Mr. Vari Euren which requires con- 
cealment, palliation, or coloring — never any thing to lessen his character as a patriot and as 
a man — nothing whicii he might not desire to see exposed to the scrutiny of every member 
of this body, witli the calm confidence of unsullied integrity, lie is called an artful man — a 
giant of artifice — a wily magician. From whom does he receive these opprobrious names ^ 
From open enemies and pretended friends. In the midst of all the charges that have bein 
brought against him, in shapes more varying than thase of Proteus, and thick as the autumn- 
al lia\ cs tliat strew the vale of Valambrosa, where is the false friend or malignant enemy that 
lias fixed upon him one dishonorable or degrading act ? If innocent of artifice, if governed 
by a high seise of honor, and regulating his conduct by elevated principles, this is not won- 
derful ; but, if the result of skill, of the ars celare artem, he must be more cunning than the 
Devil himself, to have thus avoided the snares of enemies and the treachery of pretended 
friends. 

It is not possible, sir, that he should have escaped, had he been otherwise than pure. 
Those, ignorant of his unrivalled knowledge of human character, his power of penetrating 
into the designs and defeating the purposes of his adversaries, seeing his rapid advance to 
public honors, and popular confidence, impute to art what is a natdral result of those sifnple 
causes. Extraordinary talent, untiring industry, incessant vigilance, the happiest temper, 
which success cannot corrupt nor disappointment sour ; these are the sources of his unexam- 
pled success — the magic arts — the artifices of intrigue, to which only he has resorted in 
bis eventful life. Those who envy his success may learn wisdom from his example. 

Having disposed of the catalogue of the Senator from Mississippi, let me advert to 
the grounds occupied by a little army of objections on the other side of this Chamber. 
How many sacrifices of feeling to duty ! The honorable Senators of Maryland, Connecticut, 
Delaware, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Kentucky, are constrained by duty to rote against 



29 

his nomination— and all on public grounds — no private feelings : Oh no ! nothing like 
it : public duty against private feeling, is the order of the day. And what is the dread- 
ful public crime lie, Mr. Van Buren, has committed ? Hear, sir, hear ! He has degrad- 
ed the country by giving instructions to tlie late Minister to Great Britain, Mr. McLane, 
about the West India trade. What instructions ? Can it be those on wliich the act of 
1830 passed — those which have been among our printed documents for these twelve 
montlis,, forming part of tlie President's communication to Congress of January 1831 ? 
Have those honorable gentlemen who are now so shocked at the public degradation, 
so eager to punish the author of tliis naiional disgrace, been sleeping at tlieir posts — ' 
no one to cry out in ring the alarm at the dangers to which tlic public honor was ex" 
jiosed — no one to inlert'erc to prevent the United States fcom being placed at tlie foot- 
stool of the British tiirone ? Quietly witnessing the consummation of the crime, passing 
an act with the knou lodge of tliese instructions, to secure i/ie boon which they noiu 
see was begged in the n:ime of party from the British crown ; we are now electrified 
by bursts of indignation at this first act of degradation in the history of American Di- 
plomacy. What a spectacle is here! How long is it since he who was the instrument 
to bow us down before Great Britain, was unanimously confirmed to a post of honor 
and important trust ? But the instrument by whom he was ordered to act, is to bear 
the punishment. The author of the instructions, he by whom they were given, is too 
liigh to be reached at present ; the author of the crime, he who ordered it, escapes — 
he who commits it, by order, goes free ; he wlio conveys the order, answers for both, 
and upon his head falls all the indignation of tiiese incensed Senators, acting upon pub- 
lic grounds, and reluctantly peiforniing a painful — paixful — duty ! ! ! 

Well, sir, to tiiis degradation. It is found iii the instructions to Mr. McLane ; and 
to n-.ake out their case, the Honorable Senators from Massachusetts and Kentucky have given 
us a sketch of the history of the West India negotiation. Both brought down their narratives 
to the taunting reply of Mr. Canninef to Mr. Gallatin, given during the late administration. 
From this point, both these Honorable Senators found it convenient tw shde — no, sir, t() 
leap, over all intervening events to the instructions to Mr. McLane. With permission, I 
will fill up this little unimportant chasm. The terms of the British act of Parliament not 
having been accepted by the United States, American vessels were excluded, by an order in 
council, from the British West India ports. Why this important interest was neglected, we 
have been just told by the Senator from Kentucky, " the late administration were ignoriint 
of the act of Parliament until it Avas casually seen by them." " It was not officially commu- 
nicated by the English Government to our Government." " Even when we were colonies, 
we were not bound by British acts of Parliament, unless specially named in them." Indeed. Is 
it possible that the late administration did not know an act of Parliament affecting impor- 
taiit interests ? Where were all our accredited Ministers and commercial agents in Great 
Britain, th.tt this Government was not informed of this measure, known to all Europe, and ta- 
ken advantage of by most of the Powers interested in it ! But it was not ofTicially commu- 
cated to us. "Well, sir, was it officially communicated to any other Government, interested 
in its contents as we were ? 

'I he British Government, I apprehend, would have considered such a communication a 
gross reflection upon our accredited agents. It would hav; compelled them tosay, in effect, 
we communicate to you an act, supjiosing your agents are too negligent of their duty to 
Bend it to you. What were cur ministers and agents about ? how were they employed, that 
they did not send to their Government this important information ? 

» But the last excuse is worse than all. Even when Colonies, we were not bound by acts of 
Parliament in which we were not named specially. — What a discovery ! and it is conclu- 
ded from this wise recollection, that we are not now bound to take notice of acts of Parlia- 
ment not */)ec/rt//y and q^««% co/?jmu«/crt/e(/ /o u*. I imagine we are not bound by them, 
communicated to us or not, but we are bound to know all lho-,e touching our interests, and 
any adminisiration is severely reprehensible for ignorance of them, and for failing to attend 
to those that bear injuriously upon the interests of the people. The act was, however, at 
last known, and when Mr. Gallatin presented himself to negotiate, with instructions to waive 
all claims that were formerly presented, and had prevented an arrangement, he was taunt- 
ingly told, you have lost your day in court — the privilege, the boon, offered had not been se- 
cured by accepting the conditions; we have taken our course; negotiation is not our plan. 
Well, sir, what said the adminisiration, of which the honorable Senator from Kentucky 
formed a part? There was an act of Congress, requiring, on the shutting of the British 
West India ports against us, an interdict by proctamation. Smarting under this taunting re- 
fusal to negotiate, what was done? The execution of an act of Congress positively directing 
the proclamation, was suspended by Executive authority for two months before the meeting 
of Congress, and during the whole succeeding session, to see if Congress, who had been 
prevented the preceding session from legislating — the administration preferring the eclat of 
a negotiation — could not legislate the Executive out of the difficulty into which he had 
placed the country by negligence, or, if the Senator from Kentucky pleases, ignorance of 
the act of Parliament. We all know how that effort terminated — The tw© Houses disagreed 



30 

about tlie mode of elTecting tlie pnrpnaei both, however, willing to take the privilege on 
the conditions proposed by Great Kritain. 

The Senate passed a bill— the House, under the influence of the Senator from Massachu- 
RClts, amended it, and the question was, whether one or the other oblique path slroidd be 
trodden. The session terminated without legislative enactment, and thcn,and not till then, 
the proclamation of interdiction was issued. Thus, eir, smarting under the taunt of the 
IJritish Minister, our administration left tlie whole trade in the hands of Great Britain for 
six or eight months — sought to cover itself from censure by invoking legislative interposi- 
tion, and then was compelled to act on the suspended statute. The interdict being pro- 
claimed, tiie trade stood upon the very advantageous footing, according to the Senator's 
judgment, which we have lost by the negotiation. Notwithstanding we were ciijoijing such 
cmincril adcanlagcs, the late administration, in spite of the taunt, directed Mr. Gallatin to try 
again to proctu'c wiiat is now disparaged, by opening tlie door of negotiation after it had 
been shut in his face. He was again repulsed. But this humiliation was not enough. Mr. 
Barbour was sent to London, and he too had his instructions, and went, cap in hand, knock- 
ing at the closed door for negotiation. Sir, he knocked at the door of the Britisli Ministry 
under circumstances humiliating in the extreme. If a gentleman should go a second time 
to a house, the proprietor of which, speaking from his window, had directed his porter to 
deny him to the visiter, his visit would have been somewhat like Mr. Barbour's second 
call. Yes, sir; yet llie humiliation was vain — the second as fruitless as the first. 

Such was condition of tltis question when Gen. Jackson was placed at the head of the 
country. One of the first objects of his administration was the recovery of the British West 
India Trade, an arrangement of it upon terms of just reciprocity, satisfactory to both parties, 
and, therefore, promising to be permaner.t. Mr. McLane was selected to go to England, 
and these much abused instructions prepared by the late Secretary of State. Let it be re- 
membered, sir, these are instructions from tlie President of the United States to tlie Ameri- 
can Minister, never intended for tlie eye of the British Government, and which, in no coun- 
try but ours, would ever have seen the light. 

Tlic opening of this negotiation was the cliiefdiflTiculty. To remove it, two grounds arc 
taken. It will be remembered that our refusal to accede to the terms of the act of Parlia- 
ment was made the ground of refusing to treat witli Mr. Gallatin and Mr. Barbour, bo'.ii of 
whom went prepared to ofTer an arrangement by reciprocal legislation ; taking the act of 
Parliament as tiie British legislation. To obviate the difficulty, after a fair and full history 
of the transaction.Uiiese suggestions are presented to Mr. McLane, to be pressed, so far as he 
might deem it useful and proper so to do. If the British persist in refusing to hear you o.i 
this subject, remind them of the circumstances that have occurred; of the difference of 
opinion among ourselves on it ; of the abandonment by the Administration of those pretences 
that had prevented an adjustment of it ; that they arc not to be again brought forward ; that 
the past Administration was not amenable to the British Government, nor to any other, than 
the People of the United States, who had passed upon all their acts. Say to the British, if 
it makes pretensions formerly advanced the pretext for still declining to negotiate, the sen- 
sibility of the American People will be deeply awakened ; that the tone of public feeling, 
by a course so unwise and untenable, will be aggravated by the known fact that Great Britain 
had opened her colonial ports to Russia and France, notwithstanding a similir omission on 
their parts to accede in time to the terms oflered by the act of Parhament. And this, sir, is 
represented as the language of entreaty, as the begging of a boon. This menace of the 
public indignation ; this declaration that the late adminislration was neither to be censured 
or praised by foreign nations ; was amenable for their conduct to no earthly tribunal but the 
people of the United States, is tortured into a claim of privileges, on party grounds for party 
purposes, and as a disgraceful attempt to throw upon a previous administration unmerited 
disgrace, for the sake of currying favor with a foreign power, and that power of all others 
Great Britain. Great Britain could not resist this frank and open and manly appeal. Com- 
mitted by their concession in favor of France and Russia, and the Ministry distinctly told by 
Mr. McLane that he would not remain if they declined negotiation, or placed their refusal 
upon any other ground than an open declaration that their interests could not permit tliem 
to enter into a reciprocal engagement with the United States, the English Cabinet reluc- 
tantly yielded ; and then came the most odious feature in this trans.action, that which has 
sharpened the intellect of the opposition, to discover dishoior in trutli, and a want of dig- 
nity in a frank exposition of facts— tVs crowning success. Mr. McLane and Mr. Van Burcn, 
under Gen. Jackson, succeeded in effecting an object of public solicitude, that Mr, Adams, 
and Mr. Clay, and Mr. Gallatin, and Mr. Barbour, could not obtain. The country was hu- 
miliated by the preceding administration without success ; hence, the charge against Mr. 
Van Buren ; hence, the overwhelming anxiety to prove tliat the success of the late negotia- 
tion has been purchased by humiliation. The British Cabinet desired not to make tlie ar- 
rangement; it interfered with great local interests, and if they could, without a manifest and 
unjust distinction to our prejudice, they would have declined admitting the United States to 
the privileges granted to the other m.iritimc Powers. Not satisfied with his condemnation - 
of Mr. Van Buren's instructions, the Senator from Kentucky attempts to show us, by referring 



31 

to another letter of inslriictions, liow this aiTair should have been conducted conalslently 
with his ideas of national honor and dignity. The letter from wlncii he has read to the Se* 
nate extracts is, I think, signed H. Clay. Will the Senator tell us who is responsible for 
it ? If he is, then he exhibits himself in the singular position of a man triumphantly contrast- 
ing the work of his own hands with that of a rival author. The Senator knows that there 
were two other instructions, written by himself, of a subsequent date, one to Mr. Gallatin, 
after Congress failed to legislate, and anotiierto Governor Barbour, neither of which is be- 
fore us, and, tiierefore, not to be contrasted with Mr. V'an Buren's work. I am content to 
abide by the result of a contrast of the iubtructions he has condemned, with tliose he has 
quoted. 

Let us see how the gentleman's letter will stand the test of examination. Mr. Gallatin, 
he says, was not instructed to abandon a right; we were to be at liberty at a more conveni- 
ent season to resume it. Mr. Gallatin was to give a strong proof of our desire to conciliate 
by a temporary concession of wiiat we had previously claimed throughout tiie whole nego- 
t.ation. Was Mr. Gallatin instructed to s.^y to the British Government, this \s w temporary 
concession? No, sir, he was authorized to waive the claim and make an arrangement on the 
British b.isis. Put this into plain language,and what was it? Strip it of its diplomatic drapery 
and verbiage, and it is neither more nor less than an abandonment of a pretension which, 
though we had supported by argument, we were resolved not to enforce by power. Sir, 
this covering up of a plain truth is the common trick of diplomacy; it deceives no one, and 
had Mr. Gallatin presented these conciliatory concessions, they must have been received as 
n virtual and total abandonment of our pretensions. The honeyed words of right, waived 
from a conciliatory spirit, and with the hope of corresponding friendly dispositions, wouUl 

have been received with a sneer, lurking in the odicial — artificral smile of a tho- 

rough bred diplomatist. The Senator insists, however, it was a right and not a pretension. 
If it was a right, why was it waived or surrendered? For conciliation sake. Why, sii', we 
were the ofl'ended party — England had launtei us — England had refused once, twice, 
thrice, to negotiate, and yet to conciliate England, we were waiving a wellgiounded right! 
For what purpose were we thus conciliating? To place the trade on its preesent footing, to 
the great injury of the navigation and commerce of the United States. Such is the view 
now taken by several honorable Senators who have favored us with their oiiinior. on this 
subject. The present administration waived no right for conciliation sake, sacrificed no 
principle. It stood upon the truth, and the trutii only; and whatever may be the custom 
of others, and the ordinary usages of diplomacy, the Administration was right. Nations 
fold themselves in the robes of falsehood, and swell and strut in vain — to preserve an air 
of dignity and decorum. No nation ever was just to its own character, or preserved its 
dignity, that did not stand at all times before the world, in the sober and simple garb of 
truth. Sir, the character of our diplomacy has undergone a marked change; we are no 
longer pretenders to skill and artifice; all our wiles are filets and reasons, all our artifice 
truth and justice. The honorable Senator tells us that this instruction is false, or else it 
proves Mr. V. B. to have been criminally ignorant of what it was his duty to know. 

How does he make this appear ? He alleges that Mr. V. B. charged the late adminislr.i- 
tioH with he'mg the first \.o advance the pretension it subsequently abandoned — and this he 
declares is untrue, the pretension was set up before the late administration came into power. 
Now, sir, as I read this paragraph, Mr. V. B. does not charge the late administration with 
being the first to advance this pretension. The Senate will recollect this is a letter to Mr. 
McLane, whose personal knowledge is appealed to, and who must liave understood the 
writer ae alluding to « fact of general notoriety; the words are " those who first advanced,** 
&c. have subsequently abandoned. Can any man mistake the meaning — the meaning per- 
fectly in accordance with the fact ? The pretension was advanced by the use of the famous 
elsewhere in our act of Congress — an act known to have been penned by Mr. Adams, who 
had previously occupied the ground covered by it, in his instructions to Mr. Rush. It was 
Mr. Adams who first advanceil and abandoned this g^'ound. The credit or the odium, which- 
ever term belongs in justice to the act, attaches to Mr. Adams, and so Mr. McL. could only 
have understood it, and so must the Senator from Kentucky, if he examines with a desire to 
undeistand it in the spirit of the author. There are considerations connected with Mr. V. 
B. if I deemed it consistent with his honor, that I could present to those that hear me, that 
would not fail to make a deep impression upon their minds. But I ask no remembrance 
of his forbearance, no recollection of his magnanimity. I appeal to no one to imitate his 
mildness, and courtesy, and kindness, in his deportment here, nor to judge /«(>?! as he judg- 
ed his rivals for fame and power. I demand for him notliing but jubtice — harsh — harsh 
justice. 

Mr. clay. 
Mr. CLAY, (in reply to Mr. Forsyth and other gentlemen,) observed, that .1 doctrine 
had been advanced much more important in its consequences, than the nomination u ruler 
consideration. It had been maintained, that the instructions, so often adverted to, were the 



%1 

President's instructlonB; that he alone was responsible for them ; and that the Secretary of 
State stood in no inanner amenable on account of them. This doctrine was directly at 
war with the genius of all our institutions, which suppose every public functionary to be 
responsible for every official act he performs. This responsibility runs through our entire 
system, and attaches to every officer of Government, from the highest to the lowest. If the 
President sanctions instructions, emanating from tlie Department of State, undoubtedly he 
also is responsible for them ; but this cannot screen the Secretary of Stale from his sJiare 
of the responsibility. Is not a Secretary of State impeachable under the Constitution ? 
Suppose he is guilty of " treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors," could 
he not be impeached by the House of Representatives, tried, and convicted ? And would 
it be any defence that the crime was committed by the command of a President ? If he is 
directed to perform an act forbidden by law, or repugnant to the national honor, he can 
witiihold his signature, and surrender the seals of office. It is remarkable, that it appears 
there were no Cabinet consultations when these instructions were given, and, consequently, 
Mr. Van Buren's responsibility was greater. I ha\e been asked if I considered myself 
liable for tlie instructions wliicli I gave, in conformity with the directions of the Prcs'dent, 
when I was in the Department of State? Most, certainly. I never gave an instruccion, or 
prepared a diplomatic note, without a full consciousness of the responsibility under which I 
acted. 

It has been argued that the real cause of the objection to this nomination is the mortifica- 
tion which is felt at the success of this administration in recovering the colonial trade, and 
its general success in the management of our foreign affairs, wlien contrasted with the pre- 
vious administration. With respect to the value o\ the colonial trade, under the arrange- 
ment* which has been made, and its effects upon our navigation and commerce, I hope that 
an op[)ortunity for an ample discussion of them will occur, when it will not be difficult to 
show tliat what has been done is decidedly more disadvantageous to us than the previous 
state of that trade. But what is the arrangement ? 'i'here is no treaty, no compact, nothing 
obligatory upon Great Britain. The operation of an act of the British Parliament has been 
simply extended to our intercourse with the British colonies. What we have gotten proceeds 
from the breath of a British Parliament, and tVe same breath can take it away, whenever 
they please. Let us look at the other vaunted instances of the diplomacy of this adminis- 
tration. The residue of our claims on Denmark, fcr which indemnity was not obtained un- 
der the late administration, have been satisfied. But Mr. Wheaton was engaged in negotia- 
tions respecting them prior to the termination of that administration. A treaty is understood 
to have been made with Turkey. But the information which led to the negotiation was pro- 
cured during the late administration, which had actually commenced a negotiation, and 
would in all probability have conducted it to a successful conclusion, if it had remained in 
power. A treaty has been signed and concluded with Austria by the present administration. 
But that treaty, I believe word for word, was negotiated and prepared for signature by the 
Austrian Minister aiid myself. A day had even been appointed to proceed to the signa- 
ture, when the caution of the Austrian Minister prompted him to refer the treaty to his Go- 
vernment for its approbation. The Frencii ireatj', providing for the satisfaction of the claims 
of our citizens on France, i>as been concluded during this adininistration ; but the whole 
world knows that it has pi oceeded from a fortunate conjuncture. If it iiad not been for the 
revolution of July, we should probably not have obtained the treaty. 

Now, under tlie last administration let us see what was done. It concluded at Washington 
treaties with Guatemala, Denmark, and the Hanseatic cities, founded on the most liberal 
principles, and forming models for future treaties. It made treaties abroad with England, 
and the Emperor ofjBrazlls, with Sweden, and with Mexico, the latter of which remained to 
be ratified by the Mexican llepublic. It adjusted the difficult subject with England rela- 
ting to satisfaction for slaves taken during the late war. During that adminisiraiion in- 
demnity was obtained for claims of American citizens, on Colombia, the Brazils, Denmark, 

• Tliere is astattmciit in the puliliMticd spsecli of Gen. Smiiti wliich if lie made it in the Senate, did not al tract 
my attention. He suys he asked me whetlierthe terms proposed by the Hiitish act of Pailiament, of July, 182i, 
■were satisfactory ; and that I said I "considered they were all we cuuUI a?k." Now, I am perfectly confident 
tliat the Senalor's recolkction 13 inaccurate, and that I never did say to hin> that the terms proposed by the act 
wereall we couhl ask. It is impossible I should have said so. Fm; by the terms of the act, to entitle Powers not 
colonial (ami of course the UnitL-U Slates) to its privileges, those Powers are required to place the commerce and 
navigation of Great Bri'ain (liuropeau as well as calouial) upon the footing of the most favored nation. That 
is, if we had accepted the terms as tendered on the face ot llie act, we would have allowed British vessels all the 
privileges which we have eraiited by our treaties of reciprocity with Guatemala and oUier Powers. The ves- 
sels of Great Britain, iherefuie, would have been at liberty to import into the United States, on an equal footing 
Mith our own, the productions of any part of the globe, without a corresponding privilege on the part of our 
vessels, in the ports of Great Britain. It is true that the King in Council was authorized to dispense with some 
of the conditions of the act, in behalf of powers not possessing colonies. But whether the condition, embracing 
the principle or the most favored nation, would have been dispensed with or not, was unknown to me at the Ume 
the Senator states the conversations to have happened. And, long after, Mr. Vaughan, the British Minister, was 
unable to afford any information as to the Bet ol Parliament. That very aulhoriiy, vested in the King, demon- 
strate* the necessity there was for further explanation, if not negotiation. 

Wilhretpect to the note from me to the Svnator, which he says he recej^}'ed accompanying the draft of the 
bill inu-oducud by him, it would be more eatlsfactory if ha would publish the note itself, instead of what he re- 
present* to be an extract. H. C. 



S3 

Sweden,* and Russia. In respect to the indemnity from Russia, I request permission of the 
Senate to relate an anecdote which reflects so much honor upon the late Emperor Alex- 
ander. Baron Maltitz beinj? one day in the Department of State, I casually observed to him 
thAt I thought the Russian Government had not treated us well respecting that claim ; that 
it had been repeatedly, during a long course of years, brought before that Government ; 
that we could get no answer to our representations; and that we were at least entitled to a 
decision one way or the other. Fie communicated this conversation to his Government; the 
Emperor Alexander, as I was subs»queuily informed, sent for the papers, personally in- 
spected them himself.and directed the payment of the claim. It was accordingly adjusted 
and settled by Baron Tuyll and myself by an exchange of diplomatic notes. 

Tiie gentleman from Georgia contends that the late Administration submitted to indigni- 
ties from tlie Britis!) Government ; and that it repeatedly knocked at the door of the British 
Minister at London, to renew the negotiation, without gaining admittance. The gentlemen 
is mistaken. After the refusal of Mr. Canning to treat of the Colonial Intercourse, an elabo- 
rate despatch was on the lllh November, 1826, transmitted to Mr. Gallatin, containing a 
vindication of the whole cotu'se of our Government, in which, witliout retaliating on Mr. 
Canning's sarcasms, the honor, good faitii, and character of our Government are maintained, 
whether with ability or not it does not liecome me to pronounce. In that despatch Mr. Gal- 
latin is told: " What may be tiie nature of the proposals which you were authorized to 
" make, upon the renewal of the negotiation so confidently anticipated, it is not now proper 
"should be communicated to the British Government Resped for ourse/yes, no less than 
*• for that Government, forbids that we should obtrude upon their consideration proposals 
" against wiiich tliey have deemed it proper to shut their ear?." Mr. Barbour succeeded 
Mr. Oallatin; but he was not, according to my recollection of his instructions, charged with 
any renewal of the negotiation. No man was ever more tenacious of the honor of his coun- 
try than the late President, and he would have been the last to have authorized a degrading 
or derogatory solicitation to renew the negotiation. It is alleged that he forebore for a long 
time to issue his Proclamation interdicting British vessels, coming from the Colonial ports, 
an entry into our ports. The situation of that Administration was peculiar. During a great 
part of it, the Opposition had the majority in Congress. At the session 1825 — 6 Congress 
had taken up the subject of the Colonial Intercourse, although it failed to past, a law. In the 
despatch to Mr. Gallatin, already cited, he was informed that the whole matter would be 
communicated to Congress. It was communicated at the session 1826 — 7 . Could the Presi- 
dent witli propriety have issued his proclamation during that session ' Shortly after its 
close. Congress having omitted to legislate in respect to the Colonial trade, the President, 
without hesitation, issued his proclamation, in conformity witii the existing law. 

The gentleman from Georgia further contended that the withdrawal or waiver of the 
demand, on the part of the late AdiTiii/istration, of the admission of our produce into the 
British West Indies, on the same footing with similar produce from the B-itish Colonial 
Continental ports, was equivalent to the abandonment of the pretension made by the present 
Administration ; and that it was a mere difference of diplomatic phraseology. But I cannot 
agree with the gentleman. The withdrawal or waiver of the demand, was a concession, the 
operation of which would have been temporary, limited to the duration of the treaty, in 
which it was expected the negotiation would teriTiinate. Upon the expiration of the treaty, 
the right would have revived, and might have been insisted on in future negotiations. 
Moreover, it was expected that equivalents would have been obtained, and especially some 
provision for our trade on the St. Lawrence and the Sorrel. But when the demand is 
abandoned, as an unsustainable pretension, when our Government is denounced for having 
brought forward such a pretension, and too long and too tenaciously clung to it, how can we 
ever hereafter assert it ? With what face can an American negotiator again put forward 
the demand ? It could only be done by following the bad example of one administration, 
disavowing to a foreign Goverinnent the acts of its predecessor. 

The more I reflect upon these instructions the stronger am I convinced of their reprehensi- 
ble nature. If there be one point more tiian all others of which all Governments, what- 
ever may be their form, are justly most jealous, it is that of a foreign interference in do- 
mestic affairs. But of all Governments Republics should guard with the most assiduous care 
against such interference. All history, from the days of Greece and Philip, proclaims that 

• My b'-lief was, and Iso slated, that Mr.'Hug-lies was instructed to aid Mr. Connell, the ag^ont of the claimants 
against Swtden to procure indemnity. Mr. Iliighis was instructed and tliargtd witli a ntgutiation lor the claims 
otour citizens on Denmark, in which he was assisted by Mr. Connell, the agent of the claiuiants there also. Hav- 
ing had no recent access to the Deijartment of State, it is possible 1 was mistaken lyi to the fact of Mr. Uughes 
Ijoiiig especially instructed in respect to the Sweilish claims, and that I confounded the two negotiations. In 
point of fact, however, Mr. Hughes, either under his general instructions, the particular instruction given by 
Mr. Mams, or as incident to his diplomatic character, dill aidi and, by his address, essentially aid Mr. Con- 
nell in the liquidation of the Swedish claims. 

It appears that the present Secretary of State, at the instanceof an individual member of the Senate, lias under- 
taken to furnish a copy of instructions transmitted to a foreign minister, and to iK'gative the existence of other 
instructions, so tar as the records of the Department would enable him to negative tluir existence. Hiiherro in- 
liliuctioiis have been only communicated to Congress upcm the calls ol that l)odv, or voluntarily by the Executive. 
'J hey have been sometimes even refused (o one of the tlouses ofCongress, H. C, 



34 

tliis is the point of most danger. But these instructions Invite the attention of the BtitisJi 
Government to the fact of our disscTisions, present it as a topic for consideration, for persua- 
s'on, for deliberation. When that Government is thus legitimately put in possession of the 
fact, do we not know that the transition from deliberation upon those divisions to action is 
siiort and perilous ! 

The gentleman from New York (Mr. Marcy) supposes, in adverting to tlie practice of 
proscription wiiich I understood prevailed with the dominant party in his State, that I had re- 
flected upon the ciiaracter of that State ; and he alleges, that the practice has existed 
for thirty years, with every dominant party, and was rigorously exercised, many years ago, 
by my friends. Nothing was farther from my intention than to reflect in the smallest de- 
gree upon that powerful and respectable State. On the contrary, I honor and admire it 
for its noble institutions, its splendid public works, and its enterprize and inteUigence. But 
I must pronounce my abhorrence of the practice to whioli I allude, no matter with whom it 
originated, whether friend or foe, or by whom it may be continued. It has been carried by 
the present Administration to a most odious extent in Kentucky. Almost every ofiicial in- 
cumbent, who voted against tlie present Chief Magistrate, and who was within the Execu. 
tive reach, has been hurled from ofiicG; whilst those wlio voted for him have been retained, 
no matter how long they had been in their stations. It is not practised in Kentucky by 
the State Government, when in the hands of tlie opposition to this Administration. Very 
lately. Governor Metcalfe lias appointed to one of the three highest judicial stations in the 
State, a supporter of this Administration. The gentleman appointed is a nephew of the 
gentleman from Maryland, (Gen. Smith,) and altiiough highly respectable and eminent in 
his profession, lie is not m )re so than twenty other lawyers in the State belonging to the op- 
posite party. The Governor also renewed the appointment, or commissioned several gen- 
tlemen opposed to him in politics, as attornles for the Commonwealth. And recently, the 
Legislature appointed a President of one of the Banks from tiie ranks of the friends of this 
Administratloii, and several other officers. 



Mr. smith. 

Mr. SMITH had sjioken in the debate on the nomination of Martin Van Burcn several times. 
The whole of his remarks, are, however, embraced in the following Speech: 

Mr. President: I have said, "that, the Secretary of State is not responsible for instruc- 
tions given by order of the President;" — that tiie President is the only responsible person 
known to the Cunsiituiion. In England, agreeably to its Constitution, the King can do no 
wrong, and his advisers are held responsible to Parliament. Our Constitution is different, 
as I understand it. 'I'he law wliich created the Stale Department in 1789, is that under 
which every Secretary has acted, and must continue to act. This law says, "the Secretary 
for Foreign Aflairs shall perform and execute such duties as shall from time to time be en- 
joined on, or entrusted to him, by the President of the United Slates, (agreeably to the Con- 
stitution) relative to correspondences, commissions or instructions to or with public Ministers 
or Consuls from the United States, or to negotiate vvitli public Ministers from Foreign States 
or Princes, and furthermore, that the said principal officer, (Secretary of St.ite,) shall con- 
duct the business of the said Department, in such manner as the President of the United 
States shall, from time to time, ^' order or instruct." 

Such, Mr. President, is the law. The Secretary can do no act without tlie direction of 
the President, and whatever he directs, (if agreeably to the Constitution,) the Secretary, 
under the oath he takes must perform. What is tiie oath'' " Well and faithfully to execute 
the trust committed to him." AVhat is that trust? Obedience to the instructions of the Pre- 
sident in all cases where the Constitution is not to be violated. 

1 have, Mr. President, been thirty-nine years in Congress, and this is the first occasion I 
have ever heard any other construction seriously urged, than, "that the instructions given 
to Ministers abroad are the act of the President." Ail the instructions I remember com- 
mence thus — " I am instructed by the President to give you the following views. Sec. &.C.," 
or words to that eflect. I well remember a case in point, which transpired while I was in 
Congress more than tliirly years past. I was called from my seat by the then Secretary of 
tiie Navy: He asked me what the House of Hepresentatives were doing. I replied, that 
they were discussing the Report of Mr. Pickering. Do the House consider it as the re-port 
of the President or Secretary of State? It is considered as the act of the President, who 
sent it, and how could it otherwise be considered' I come, said the Secretary, from Mr. 
Adams, to request you to say, tiiat he disavows it, and trusts that the House will consider 
it as the act of Mr. Pickering, and not as his [Mr. Adams's] act. 

I returned into the House of Hepresentatives, and, in the debate, took occasion to com- 
ment upon the Report as severely as the Report reflected upon Mr. Gerry for remaining in 
France. I was called to order three times. I then asked the Speaker in what respect I was 
out of order ? He replied, "you must consider the Report as the act of the President ; for 
the Executive had made it his by sending it to the House." I answered, that the Presi- 
dent disavowed it, and therefore 1 could not trt-at the Report as the President's. 1 took my 



35 

seat. An appeal from the Speaker's decision was had, and the vote of the House sustained 
the opinion of the Speaker, by a hirge majority— thus establishiiig tliat the President was res- 
ponsible, and not the Secretary, for acts done under his authority. In the case before us, 
the President gave his directions — tiie instructions were put into form by tiie Secretary — 
the President read and approved them, and they were delivered to Mr. McLane. How do 
we know but that the paragraph, which has offended tlie delicate sensibilities of gentlemen, 
iiad been actually dictated by the President. I do not think it at all improbable, and if so, is 
it not an act of gross injustice to make Mr. Van Buren responsible for it ^ The paragraphs 
so frequently alluded to in debate are S'lbstantialli/ true — I admit lh( y might as well have 
been omitted. 

Some one has said that he did not believe that General Jackson had ever read the instruc- 
tions. Little does that Senator know of the President, if he believes so. I can assure that 
Senator, that the President read, and carefdly too, the instructions to Mr. McLane, and 
approved them.* I wish that Senator would converse with the President upon any of our 
national afHiiis — and he will certainly find that the President is as well, and I might say bet- 
ter, informed, than himself, on any tiling done in any, or all of tiie departments, and on all 
matters relating to our foreign affairs — At least, I have found liim so — in all matters as well, 
and in some much better, informed, than T am. He is known, by his friends, to be particu- 
larly well informed in every tiling tliat relates to our foreign relations. 

A Senator from Maine, [Mr. Holmes,] has said that *' Mr. McLane was sent to bow and 
cringe at the feet of the British Minister." That Senator knows little of Mr. McLane ! What ! 
a native American, the son of a distinguished officer of the Uevohition, bow and cringe at the 
feet of any man ! I can assure that Senator, that Mr. McLane is not made of such pliant ma- 
terials. No, sir ; Mr. McLane came to the point at once. He asked fur what was right He 
set up no sitly pretensions. He frankly demanded what his country required. The Ministry 
tried to avoid a negotiation, as they did with Mr. Gallatin. But, sir, his firmness and frank- 
ness conquered the reluctance of the Ministiy to enter into a negotiation. He convinced 
them, tliat they had departed from a rigid construction of the act of Parliament of July, 1825, 
in the cases of France, Russia, and Spain ; they could not, therefore, in justice, he asserted, 
refuse a similar departure, in the demand of equal justice to the United States. He frankly 
told them that he had come for the sole purpose of opening the colonial trade, and that, if 
not indulged in a negotiation, he would return home. Call you this bowing and cringing at 
the feet of the British Ministry i" Is there any cringing in the despatches of Mr. McLane ' 
No one will say tiiere is. The truth is, Mr. President, and it ought to be known to the Peo- 
]ile, that the front of the offence is, the negotiation has complelelij succeeded under the instruc- 
tions given by Mr. f^an Buren, and as completely failed under those of another — a crime that 
never can be forgiven by the opponents of Gen. Jackson. 'I'hey wdl never pardon him for 
his succeeding in all the negotiations, in which the preceding Administration hid completely 
f.iiled. For instance, the l.»te Administration had attempted and failed, in all tlie following 
important objects, namely : in the claims on France ; in the opening of the Black Sea to our 
commerce ; in making a treaty with Mexico ; in obtaining from Colo;nl)ia a reduction of the 
duties on our produce and inanufactures, and in equalizing the duties charged on our trade, 
with those charged to England. In all these matters, there was a complete failure by the 
one, and complete success by the other Administration. The succeFsFul negotiations were 
under the instructions of .Mr. Van Buren. How then can Mr. Van Buren be pardoned by those 
who had failed ? It is true, that the Convertion with Deiunark and Brazils for seizures, had 
been closed, or nearly so, when the present Administration came into office. Payment by 
Sweden was effected by Mr. Connell, the agent of llie claimants, without any instructions 
having been received by the Ciiarge de Affaires. The Charge acted, he told me, as a private 
friend of the agent, and succeeded. 

[The Senator from Kentjicky, (Mr. Tlay,"! in asubsequent speech on this subject, remark- 
ed, that he had himself instructed Mr. Hugiies, the Charge des A(l;*lres to Sweden, to attend 
to the claims of our merchants against Sweden, and that the Senator from Maryland, (Mr. 
Smith,) was either mistaken or misinformed. Mr. Smith made no reply, but addressed a 
note to tiie Secretary of State for information, whether Mr. (Jlay, when Secretary of State, 
had ever given the instructions which iie asseitL'd had been gu en by him to Mr. Hughes. 
The reply of the Secretary of State contradicts the averment of Mr. Clay on this point. — See 
Note at foot of the Speech.] 

The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay) has charged .Mr McLane with hiving done inju- 
ry to the navigating interest, by tlie opening of the St. Lawrence, and the Northern ports, 
to our free intercourse — thus transferring, as he said, the carrying of the produce of Michi- 

* since the above speech was deliveivit, I have seen and converied wilh the President, and have been author- 
ized to say, " that tlie objectionable paragraphs alluded to in the debate, were dictated by him to Mr. Van 
Buren— that they were his act, and not the act of Mr. Van IJnreii," and 1 have been subsequently intbrmed, by a 
Senitor from Tennessee, that jirior to his leaving home, to assume his station in the Senate, the I'resident had lold 
him, thathe (Gen JacksonJ would, on all occas-ons of consequence, require the opinion ot his Cabinet in writ- 
nig;, thus (as the Senator understood him,) dispensing with Cabimt meetings. The tact, ther, of not calling his 
Cabinet together, was the Presideni'j own act, ajid not in consequence of the advisement of Mr. Van Buren, as has 
been so repeatedly aftlrmed. 

3 * 



36 

gan, Ohio, New York, Vermont, and Mnine, to Britisli ships, Vrhich Would othervpisft have 
been carried by our own ships. I beheve the farmers of those States do not complain. 
They know tl)at tlieir jiroduce, sold in Montreal, is received tiicre free of duty, and is car- 
ried to England, Ireland, and tiie West Indies, as if it wrre the produce of Canada. It is of 
little importance to them who is the carrier, provided they get an aildilional market, and a 
better price for tlieir produce. I regret, Mr. President, that I cannot give the credit of that 
important act to Mr. McLane. He, however, had nothing to do with it. It formed no part 
of his arrangement. The opening of that intercourse, for certain articles of our produce, 
had been i\o\\e graluilously by the British Government in 1826, prior even to the attempt at 
the negotiation by Mr. Galliftni. Now that act must have been known. It could not fail to 
have been known to the Senator (Mr. Clat,) then the Secretary of State. Why, then, does 
he now charge it as a fault committed by Mr. McLane, who had no more to do with it than 
the man in the moon ? Nor had Mr. McLane any tiling to do with tlie act of Great Britain, 
passed subsequently to the arrangement mude by him ; by which act, other articles of our 
produce are admitted free of duly into the Nortiiern Colonies, and from thence are received 
in England and the West Indies, as if they were the produce of the Canadas. Tlie Senator 
( Mr. Clay,) complains that the produce of our farmers, bordering on Canada, is received in 
Ivighuid on equal terms with tlio^e of Canada, thus giving a new muiket to a part of their 
article?, williout which other markets migiit be overstocked. The Senator, (Mr. Ci.at,) 
has truly said that the wheat of the States bordering on the Canadas, passes into Canada, is 
there ground, and the flour shipped to British ports, as if it were the produce of tlie wheat 
of Canada. This has been the spontanco<is act of Great Britain, adopted for her own inter- 
eil, and is most certainly highly beneficial to our farmers. An immense number of sheep, 
hogs, horses, and cattle, are driven annually from Maine to Quebec and New Brunswick. 
The farmers and graziers of Maine differ in opinion with the Senator from Kentucky, (Mr. 
Clat,) and are really so simple, as to believe tiiat their free intercourse with Lower Canada, 
and New Brunswick, is highly beneficial to them. Whether the intercourse with the British 
North American Colonies be beneficial, or whether it be iRJurious, the present Administra- 
tion, nor Mr. McLane, had hltle part in it. 11 had been efleded, in part, before the arrange- 
ment was concluded, and soon after for anotlier part. Ft formed, as I have previously said, 
no part of the arrangement with Great Britain, and this fact must have been known by the 
Senator, (Mr. Clat,) for he then acted as Secretary of State. We have for nearly lialf a 
century been claiming the free navigation of the St. Lawrence as a natural right. It has at 
length been gratuitously conceded to us by Great Britain, and now the Senator from Ken- 
tucky, (Mr. Clat,) complains of it as a oT(ei"incc. 

Tlie Senator, (Mr. Clat) also complains that the instructions state, " that the late Ad- 
ministration had (/iaw</orje£/ certain pretensions." Tiie Senator admits that these pretensions 
had been tya/i't'(/. The Senator (rtim Get rgia, (Mr. Forsyth,) has contended that there is 
no difTerence in substance between tliese words. I leave this grave question to be settled 
by those learned Senators, and will proceed to show what those preterihions were, and which, 
1 can hardly restrain mj self from pronouncmg, were puerile in tlia extreme. 

During the Session of 1822, Congress was informed, that an act was pending in Parlia- 
ment, for the opening of the Colonial ports to the commerce of the United States. In con- 
sequence, an act passed, authorizing tiie President, in case the act of Pailiament was satis- 
factory to him, to open the ports of the United States to British vessels, by his proclamation. 
The act of Pailiament was deemed satisfactory, and a proclamation was accordingly issued, 
and the trade commenced. Unfortunately for our commerce and I think contrary to justice, 
a Treasury circular issued, directing the Collectors to charge Britisii vessels entering our 
ports, with the alien tonnage and discriminating duties. This order was remonstrated against, 
(I think,) by Mr. Yaughan. The trade, however, went on uninterrupted. Congress met, 
and a bill was drafted in 1823, by Mr. Adams, then Secretary of State, and passed botii 
Houses, with little, if any debate. I voted for it, btlieviiig that it met, in a spirit of recipro- 
city, the act of Parliament. This bill contained, however, one little word, " elsewhere," 
which comiiletely defeated all our expectations. It was noticed by no on j. The Senator 
from Massacliuselts,(Mr. Websteii,) may have understood its effect. If he did so under- 
stand it, he was silent. The effect of that word " elsewhere" was to assume tlie pretensions 
alluded to in the instructions. What were they '> *' 'I'liat the produce of the United States 
should be received in tlie West Indies, on payment of the same tluties, as were payable on the 
])roduce of the North American Colonies." The British Minister said " as well might we 
ask that our sugar should be received free of duty, as is the sugar of Louisiana." 

The result was, that the IJritish Government slnit their colonial ports immediately, and 
thencefor.vard. The act of 1822 gave us a monopoly of the West India 'I'rade. It admitted 
free of duly a variety of articles, such as : — Lulian Corn, Oats, Indian Meal, Pease, Beans, 
&,c. SiC ' 

The British Government thought that we entertained a belief, that tlicy could not do with- 
out our produce and by their acts of 27th June, and 5tii July, lu25, they ojiened tlieir ports 
to all the world, on terms far less advantageous to tiie United Statew, than those of the »ct 
of 1B22 ; and these are the pretensions which the iiisfrnctions say, had been ubandonedhy 



37 

the late Admlnislration. They were abandoned, Mr. President, by the following words in 
the instructions to Mr. Gallatin :— '« That tlie United States consent to u>«ire the demand 
wiiich they liave lieretofore made of the admission of their productions into British Colonics, 
at the same and no higher rate of duty, as similar articles are chargeable with, when import- 
ed from one into another British Colony, with the exception of our produce descending the 
St. Lawrence and the Sorrel." Now, sir, whatcver'diflerence there may be between the 
words " waiver" and *' abandonment" in common jjarlance, it is in this case, a cumpkte 
abandonment in diplomatic language. What i i simple truth, is after all, the great ground 
of objection ? It is this. 31r. 31c Lane has viade an arrangement conformably to the prece- 
<ling instruclinns from 3Ir. Adams to 3Ir. Gallatin, llinc ulx luchrijmx. 

The dissolution of the late Cabinet, Mr. President, has been cliargcd upon Mr. Van Bu- 
ren; and what is there at home or abroad that toe have not heard charged to him P Tiie elder 
Adams changed all his Cabinet, except the Secretary of the Navy. The change was ap- 
proved by tile Democratic party, and disapproved by the Aristocracy of the day. A change 
of the Cabinet, is, therefore, nothing new. We now grieve and lament over the late change, 
and yet jiever was a Cabinet more traduced than the late one, by the whole body of the op- 
jx)sItion throughout the Union. The Cabinet certainly was sucii an one as did not meet 
the views orapi^robation of the friends of the adniinistration. They regretted in silence the 
selections which the President had made. The gentlemen selected were iionest and hon- 
orable men. Tliey were my political friends, and, I may say, some of them were my per- 
sonal intimates. Their dismissal has done no harm to the nation. The new Cabinet is, (I 
believe,) more acceptable to all parties. The members of it are known to be competent to 
the special duties of their several departments, and equally so, as advisers in the great afTair.s 
of the nation. Wliat is it to the people whether A, R, C, or D, be at the head of affairs? 
All the people ask, is, that their duties shall be ivsll performed, and tiiat they act in harmony- 
But the present President has held no Cabinet (Councils for two jears, and Mr. Van Buren is 
charged as being the adviier of the President to that course — Is this mode new? I believe 
not — I think General Washington held no Cabinet Council, during the first two years of his 
administration, and I remember well, a discussion in strong terms, against the President's 
holding them, on the ground of their being unconstitutional. I think that General Jackson 
was at that time a member of Congress, and periiaps he then imbibed the opinion, that 
Cabinet Councils were not conformable with the Constitution. Reasoning thus, I must be- 
lieve, that the not assembling his Cabinet was his mun act, and not in consequence of the 
representations of Mr. Van Buren. The unjiardonable crime of this gentleman has alsvays 
been, that the President has great confidence in his talents and abilities, which all will admit 
he possesses, in an eminent degree. 

The Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Webster,) says, tliat "instructions showing a 
diflference of opinion in the dominant party, with that of the defeated party, had never been 
given by any government." I ask, Mr. President, on what ground does tiie Senator make 
that assertion ? Few nations, if any, except our own, have ever published the instructions 
10 their ministers. We, therefore, cannot know what has been done. But, I h&rdly think 
it possible that such instructions never hare been given. They are natural, and were for Mr. 
McLane alone, and never shown by him to any person. But, I infer from Mr. Hartley's lan- 
guage to our commissioners at Paris, when treating for a peace, that he must have had some 
such instructions, as he would not otherwise have talked of a change of ministry, as holding 
otit a fairer prospect of ultimately leading to a gcntral peace. 

Mr. Van Buren has also been charged with being the father of what has been improper- 
ly called the "proscriptive system :" — or in other, and more appropriate language, "the 
removal from office." Where is the proof ? None can be produced : — all is surmise and 
conjecture. 1 act on no such groiind. When an assertion such as this is made, I want proof 
of its being well founded. But I absolutely deny the charge, and will ofl'er unquestionable 
proof of the correctness of the denial. The charge cannot possibly be substantiated, unless 
the Senator who made it, can satisfy this Senate, that Mr. Van Buren could be at Albany 
and Washington at one and the same time. I will simply stale* the facts. Mr. Van Buren 
was at Albany acting as Governor of the State of New York when the extra session of the 
Senate met on the 4th March, 1829. I think he, (.Mr. V. B.) was nominated on the 5tli 
March. At tills extra session of the Senate, sevenly-f\ve officers were appointed, principal- 
ly to fill ^■acancies occasioned by removals from office. Of tiiese officers, Mr. Van Buren 
could know nothing. The advisers to this course, if there were any, were the members of 
the cabinet then present. Mr. Van Buren could know but few of tiiose removals, or of 
those appointed. I B'ell remember that I saw Mr. Van Buren in Baltimore after my return 
home, and therefore conclude that it must have been at least a month between the time 
of his appointment, and his arrival at Washington. I think, Mr. President, tliat I have prov- 
ed that Mr. Van Buren could not have been the father of what is improperly called the 
" proscriptive system ;" — a system adopted by some of the States of this Union both before, 
and after this Administration came into office. For myself, I am opposed to removals from 
office for opinions declared. But, sir, I would remove any officer, who made use of 
his ofl&ce to force inferiors to act contrary to their wishes. I would remove every Post- 



38 

master, vvlio liad been kll0^vn to frank the " coffiii-liaml bills," or any other abusive 
papers of eitlier of the candidates. Few removals of consequence have been made in 
Maryland. I think four in Baltimore, where the most important offices are. One of 
these removals I regretted — it proceeded from the best feelings of the heart. 

Before I finish my remarks, Mr. President, I will notice what passed between the then Se- 
cretary of State (Mr. Clay,) and mysel', in relation to the act of Parliament of July, 1825. 
I first saw a copy of that act in Baltimore,and mentioned it to the Secretary, lie said that he 
liad the act in his possession, and handed it to me. I asked him, whether the terms propos- 
ed were satisfactory? He said that he considered they were all we could ask. 1 then 
•ibserved, why not issue a proclamation under our acts, and thus open the trade? Here- 
died, that he would prefer negotiation. I asked, — why? for what will you negotiate? We 
lave nothing to do, but to give our assent, and tlie trade is at once opened. I had the act 
;)rinted, and handed a copy to Mr. Adams, who had never seen it before. He agreed thai 
he lerins u-cre satisfactory. I then pressed him to issue his i)roclumation, and told him that 
file did not, I should be compelled -to introduce a bill. He remarked, that he wished I 
would do so, and that he would not only sign it, but sign it with plea.s'jre. 1 did prepare a 
bill, under the order of the Senate, and doubtful whether it might be correctly drawn, so as 
to effect my object; I sent it to the then Secretary of State, (Mr. Clat, ) with a request that 
he would correct it if necessary. He replied in writing, to this effect: "that tlie bill was 
drafted to meet my object, that it was so doubtful whether it were best to act by law, or by 
negotiation, that it was indifferent which course should be adopted." — 'I'he bill was opposed 
b}' Mr. Lloyd, who, it was believed, had the confidence of the Executive. It failed to be- 
come a law, I believe from want of time to act upon it. The Seriator (Mr. Clay,) has said 
^Ir. Canning had observed, that even if the bill had passed, it could not have been admitted 
as satisfactory. This observation may have arisen from its being imperfectly drawn, or from 
some other cause. Perhaps the Biitish minister expected that the President would have 
opened our ports by proclamation, as he, (Mr. Canning,) knew, that the President possessed 
full power to do so, under our acts of 1823 and 1824, both of which we know, had been 
drafted by Mr. Adams when Secretarj' of State. 

I have deemed it necessary, Mr. President, to make these remarks in relation to the col- 
onial trade as a reply to the observations on this subject which have fallen from the Senator 
from Kentucky, (Mr. Clay.) 

NOTE. 
The following letter, and accompan}ing extract from another letter, on the same subject 
have been received from the Secretary of State : 

"Department or State, Washington, Jan. 30lh, 1832. 
Samuel Smith, Esq. Senate of the United States: 

<S'/r — I have the honor to state, in answer lo your enquiry of yesterday, that the records 
containing the instructions of the Department to Mr. Christopher Hughes, when formerly 
Charge d' Affaires of the United States in Sweden, have been carefully examined, and that 
all which is found in them, in relation to the then clanns of our citizens upon the govern- 
ment of that countrv, is given, in the subjoined extract of a letter from Mr. Adams to him, 
dated 17th June, 18'l9. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

EDWARD LIVINGSTON. 
Extract of a letter from Mr. Adams, Secretary of State, to Mr. Hughes, Charge d' Affaires 
of the United States at Stockholm: 

Department OF State, 17th June, 1819. 
" The President has been absent from the Seat of Government, on a tour to the South 
and West, since the 30th March. His return to this place, in the course of two or three 
weeks, is expected. Since his departui'e, Mr. llussell's latest correspondence with the Swe- 
dish Government, oji the subject of the Stralsund Claims, has been received, as well as that 
which follow etl Mr. Kussell's taking leave of the Court. It is painful to perceive the per- 
severence of the Swedish Government, in withholding the indemnity, so justl}' and indispu- 
tably due to our fellow-citizens, who suffen d by those seizures, for which not even a plau- 
sible pretext is alleged. It is still more painful to find this denial of justice, accompanied by 
insinuations, neither catiditl nor fiiendly, and by allegations utterly destitute of foundation. 
Earnestly desirous of maintaining, with Sweden, the most friendly and harmonious relations, 
1 shall reserve, until after the President's return, all further remarks on the subject." 



Mr. FORTYTH. 

Mr. FORSYTH said, I have no desire to pursue this argument with the Senator from Ken- 
tucky. I am content to leave it where it stands, with this explanation of my opinion of the 
responsibility of the Secretary of State. He is, like every officer of the government, re- 
sponsible — punishable for his offences by public reprobation and judicial sentence. His 
Fespouiibility for instructions to our Ministers abroad is secondary, not primary. In giving 



39 

dislionest, dishonorable, or treacherous instructions, he is punishable as an accessary, not as 
principal. It is impossible not to understand tliat tlie Senators who have rejjrobated Mr. Van 
Ikiren liold him as the principal, as the prime mover, not as the agent of the President. I 
do not seek to shield him under the Tresident's name or office. What belongs to his place, 
let him answer for. He was, like Mr. M'Lane, an agent in the commission of this imputed 
offence. He stands to the President as the Senator from Kentucky did to the late Presi- 
dent, as Mr. Jeflcrson did to (.iencral Washington. 

Mr. Forsyth, in the discussion of the Senate, did not understand that he was supposed 
to have charged the late administration with designing to degrade the United States in the 
negotiation with Great Uritain on the West liiilia trade. Had such been his impression, he 
would have declared, as he now declares, that he had no such design. He concurs with 
pleasiu-e in the remark of Mr. Clat, that there is no man in the Union who w'ould be 
more unwilling to countenance what he believed to be an act of degradation to his countiy, 
than Jolm Quincy Adams. 

Mu. MARCY. 

Mr. MARCY said, I will trouble the Senate with a few words in answer to wliat has just 
fallen from the honorable Senator from Kentucky. He di:l not intend, he assures us, to ap- 
ply his animadversions to tiie whole State of New York, but only to the dominant party 
there— the political fiiends of the Minister to London [Mr. Van Hdukn.] Kut, sir, the state 
of facts relative to the conduct of parties in tliat State, will not allow of such a restricted ap- 
plication. If there has been any thing censurable in that respect, the honorable Senator's 
own political friends must come in for a full share : if any distinction is to be made, it cannot 
be in favor of those whose good opinion he enjoys. A recurrence to facts will sho.v, that 
proscription — if it is to be called — enters more deeply into their practice when they get 
power, than it does into the practice of those who are selected as the particular objects of 
attack. I could refer to recent instances to verify the assertioti. Give thtin success only 
in a single city, and the work of removal from office at once begins. They leave very few 
'•sp.ared monuments^" almost all are swept ofF— from the higliest to the lowest — down even 
to the lamp-lighter. The truth is, sir, the political friends of the Senator from Kentucky are 
not converts to the hberal doctrines he has avowed on this occasion. If ihcy have ever 
heard of them, they heed them not. 

After all, Mr. President, it is quite evident from what we have heard, in relation to the 
conduct of parties in Maryland and elsewhere, that New York does not differ from other 
States. Political men in all of them have the same passions, and are actuated by like motives, 
and only differ in conduct by reason of some difference in their circumstances. Where 
there is alternation of success and defeat, there will be removals — called restoration or re- 
taliation by those who use power — and proscription by those who feel it. 

If the Honorable Senator understood me to speak of only one office-holder — a single 
spared monument, as he called it — friendly to the late administration, being retained, he 
had misapprehended me. The number of changes made in tiiat Stale is small — and 1 can 
assure him, that, notwithstanding the ferocious and proscribing policies ascribed to us, he has 
many friends now enjoying offices under both the General and Slate Governments : more 
than that, sir, Mr. Van Buren has been .censured by some of his own political friends, for 
having couiiteracted.as they suppose, the efl'orts which have b^en made, in some instances, 
to efiect changes. 

So far as my observation has extended, I can discover no sort of resemblance between 
the condition of actual office holders opposed to the administration, and that which has 
been described. Tiuy were pourtrayed as a class of men in the niojt abject state of fear 
and trembling, not daring to speak but in whispers on public affiiirs, and even under re- 
straints in their social intercourse. 'I'Uey may present tliemselves or be presented in thij 
light to the Honorable Senators, but 1 am sure they are not so presented to olliers, for that is 
not their true condition. Their political predilections and sentiments are not restrained by 
fear or expressed in whispers— their opposition is open and active and sometimes noisy, and 
yet they remain in undisturbed possession of their offices. 

I must again allude to the grounds of the removal of some subordinate officers by the 
present administration, in order that it may be understood upon what principle tlie act is vin- 
dicated, and to repel the charge of wanton proscription. The necessities of the late ad- 
ministration were such that it' compelled these officers to become paitizans in the struggle. 
Many of them mingled in the hottest of the light; they were paragraph writers for the 
newspapers, and the distributors of political handbills, and thereby exposed themselves to 
the vicissitudes to""which those are always exposed for whom the pohtical contests in free 
governments are waged. If among this class of officers there was more mortality attendant 
upon the late conflict, it was because there was more disease. 

The Senator from Kentucky has denounced I'emovals from office as a violation of the 
freedom of opinion, and the liberty of speech and action. He advocates the liberty of speech 
and action. He advocates a course of conduct towiiids polilical opponents, characterized by 



40 

great moileration and forbearance, and what is more, lie professes to have conformed his 
actions to his precepts. M'e all of us, I believe, admire these liberal sentimeTiis, and feel dis- 
liosed, ill our abstract speculations, to adopt them as the rule of our conduct. The theory 
is, indeed, beautiful ; but, sir, do we put them in practice -when broup^ht to the experimenl' 
1 woidd ask the honorable Senator, if he has himself practised them ? T will not say he has 
not, because he assures us he has ; but I will say that some part of his public conduct has 
exposed him to a strong suspicion of having departed from the path wiiich he nov/ points out 
as the true one, and of having wandered into that wdiich he now thinks it is so censurable 
for otiicrs to have pursued. 

It will be recollected, sir, that there is considerable patronage attached to the Department 
of Slate. To it appertains the selection of the newspapers in which the laws of the United 
States are published. I well remember that while that honorable Senator was at the head 
of that Dejiartmenl, and when the fortunes o( the late Administration began to wane, the 
patronage of publishing the laws was withdrawn from certain public journals, which had 
long enjcyed it. What was the cause of tliis change — this removal from office, I believe 
I may call it? It was not a violent and vindictive ()p])osltion to the existing administration. 
Some of these journals had scarcely spoken in whisjicis against it. No, sir, it was for luke- 
warmness — for neutrality — a want of zeal in the cause of the administration was alleged to 
be the oflcnce; proscription was the punislimeiit. Where was then that sacred regard for the 
freedom of opinion and the liberty of speecli and action wliich we now hear so highly ex- 
tolled? Was not this an attempt to control public opinion thiough the medium of the press, 
and to bring that press into a subserviency to the views of the men in power ? 

Sir, I wish not to be misunderstood. 1 have not alluded to these things for the purpose 
of accusation. I do not even complain of the manner in which the honorable Seirator used 
the patronage entrusted to him ; but I do complain that he has seen fit to bring before this 
body the conduct of a political party in Niw York as a theme of reproach and animadver- 
sion, when its conduct is not distinguishable (except for more modeiation and tolerance) 
hom that of his own personal and political friends in that State — when its conduct does not 
differ from that pursued by political men in other States; and when it has a justification, if 
it needed one, in the honorable Senator's own example. 



Mr. WEBSTER. 

Mr. WEBSTER said, in reply to some remarks of Mr. Fousith, that it was, in his judg'- 
ment, a great mistake, to say, that what was now called the American *' pretension," origi- 
nated with Mr. Adams, either as President, or Secretary of State. By the way, it is singular 
enough that the Anitrican side of this question, is called, in the instructions before us, -d pre- 
tension, too long persisted in ; but the British side of it is called a right, too long, and toa 
tenaciously, resisted by us. This courteous mode of speaking of the claims of a foreign Go- 
vernment, and this reproachful mode of speaking of the claims of our own, is certainly some- 
what novel in diplomac}'. But, whether it be called, respectfully, a claim, or reproachfully, 
a pretension, it did not originate with Mr. Adams. It had a much earlier origin. This "pre- 
tension," now abandoned, w ith so much scorn, or this claim, said, rejiroachfully, to have been 
first set up by the late Administration, originated with (ieorge WaBhlngton. Jle put his own 
hand to it. He insisted on it ; and he would not treat with England, on the subject of the 
colonial trade, without considering it : 

In his instructions to Mr. Moiris, under his own hand, in October, 1789, President Wash- 
ington says — *'■ Le! it be strongly impressed OJi your mind, tJiui the privilei^e of carrying our 
productions, in our vessels, to their islands, and bringing in return the prochict ions oj those iS' 
lands to our oivn ports and markets, is regarded here as oj the highest inijiortance ; and you will 
be careful not to counlena7ice any idea of our dispensing with it in a treaty. Jscertain, if pos- 
sible, their views on this subject ,- fou it would 2sot bk EXPEniENT to commence negotia- 
tions WITHOUT PilEVIODSLY HAVING GOOD REASONS TO EXPECT A SATISFACTOHY TEKMIBATION 
OF TIIBM.'' 

Observe, sir, that President AVashington, in these instructions, is not speaking of the emp- 
ty and futile right of sending our own vessels, wilhoul cargoes, to the British AVest Indies ; 
hut he is speaking of the substantial right of carrying our own products to the islands, for sale 
and consumption there. And w hether these products were shut out by positive act of Par- 
liament, or by a tariif of duties, absolutely and necessarily prohibitory, could make no diflfer- 
cnce. The object was to provide, by treaty, it it could be done, that our products should 
iind their way, cIVectually and profitably, iiUo the markets of the British West Indies. This 
was General Washington's object. This was the "pretension" which he set up. 

It is well known, sir, that no satisfactory arrangement was made, in General Washington's 
time, respecting our trade with the Britlsii West"lndies. But the breaking out of the French 
ilevohitlon, and the wars which it occasioned, were causes which, of themselves, opened the 
ports of the West Indies. During the loijg continuance of those wars, our vessels, with car- 
goes of our own products, found their way into the British West India Islands undera practi- 
cal relaxation of the British Colonial system. Whilg tJiis condition of things la'jted, we did 



41 

very w ell without a purlicular treaty. Ihil wlieii the European wars, and our war, all ceas- 
ed, then Great Britain returned to her former system ; tlien the Islands became shut against 
us ; and tlien it became necessary to treat on the subject. And, sir, we proposed to treat ; 
our mini^ters were, successively, instructed to treat, from that time forward. And, sir, I un- 
dertake to say, that neither Mr. Madison, wlio was then President, nor his successor, Mr. 
Monroe, gave any authority or permission to any American Minister to abandon this jireten- 
s on, and give it "up, or even to waive it, or postpone it, and make a treaty without providing 
for it. No such tiling. On the contrary, it will appear, I think, if we look through papers 
whicli have been sent to tiie Senate, that, under Mr. Madison's Administration, our Minister 
in England was fully instructed on this subject, and expected to press it. And as to Mr. 
Monroe, I have means of being informed, in a manner not liable to mistake, that he was, on 
tills subject, always immoveable. He would not negotiate without treating on this branch 
of the trade : nor did 1 ever understand, that, in regard to this matter, there was any differ- 
ence uf opinion whatever, among the gentlemen who composed Mr. Monroe's Cabinet. Mr. 
Adams, as Secretary of State, wrote the despatches and the instructions ; but the policy was 
the pohcy of the whole Administration, as far as I ever understood. Certain it is, it was the 
settled and determined policy of Mr. Monroe himself. Indeed, sir, so far is it from being 
true that this pretension originated with Mr. Adams, that it was in his Administration that, 
for the first time, permission was given, under very peculiar circumstances, and with restric- 
tions, to negotiate a treaty, waiving this part of the cpiestion. This has been already allud- 
ed to, and fully explained, by the honorable member from Kentucky. 

So, then, sir, this pretension, asserted in the instruciions to have been first set up by the 
late Administration, is shown to have had FresidL-nt Wasliinglon for ivs author, and to have 
received the countenance of every. President, who had occasion to act on the subject, from 
17S9, down to tiie time of the present Administration. 

liut this is not all. Congress itself has sanctioned this same " pretension." The act oFthe 
1st of March, 1833, mukes it an express condition, upon whicli, and upon which alone, our 
ports sliall be opened to British vessels and cargoes from the West Indies, on the same duties 
as otir vessels and cargoes ; that our products should bt admitted into those islands, without 
paying any other or higher duties t/ian shall be paid on similar productions coming from else- 
luherc. All this will be seen by reference to llie third section of that act. Now, remember, 
sir, that this act of Congress passeil in March, 1823, two years before the commencement of 
Mr. Adams's Administration. The act originated in the Senate. The honorable Senator 
from Maryland who has spoken on this subject to-day, [Mr. Smith] was tlien a memcier of 
the Senate, and took part in Vm discus-,ion of this very bdl ; and he supported it and vated 
for it. It passed both Houses, without material opposition in either. Now, sir, how is it 
possible, aficr referring to this laiv of 1823, to find any apology for the assertion contained in 
these instructions, that this claim \s a pretension first set up by Mr. Adams's Administration ?* 
How is it possible that this law could have been overlooked, or not remembered > In short, 
sir, with any tolerable acquaintance with the history of the negotiations of the United States, 
or their legislation, lio.v are we to account tor it, that such an assertion as these instructions 
contain, slu;u'd have tbuiid its way into them ? 

But the honorable member from Georgia asks, why we lay ail this to tlie charge of the Se- 
cretary, and nut to the charge of the President ? The answer is, the President's conduct is 
not belore us. We are not, and cannot become his accusers, even if we thought there were 
any thing in his conduct which gave cause fur accusation. But llie Secretary is before us. 
Not brought before us by any act of ours; he is placed before us by the President's nomina- 
tion. On tiiat nomination we cannot decline to act. We must either confirm, or reject it. 
As to tile notion that the Secretary of State was but the instrument of the President, and so 
not responsible (or these instructions, I reject, at once, all such defence, excuse, or apology; 
or wliatcver else it mai' be called. If there be any thing in a public despatch derogatory to 
the honor of the country, as 1 think there is in this, it is enough for me, that 1 see whose 
hand is to it. If it be said, that the signer was only an instrument in the iiands of others, I 
reply, thit I cannot concur in conferring a high public diplomatic trust on any one who has 
eonsenled, under any circumstances, to be an instrument, in such a case. 

The honorable member from Georgia asks, also, why we have slept on this subject, and 
why, at this late day, we bring forward complaints. Sir, nobody has slept upon it. Since 
these instructions have been made public, there has been no previous opportunity to discuss 
them. Tlie honorable member will recollect, that the whole arrangement with England was 
done and completed, before ever tliese instructions saw the light. Tlie President opened 
the trade by his proclamation, in October, 1830 ; but these instructions were not publicly 
sent to Congi'ess till afterwards, that is, till January, 1831. And they were not then sent, 
with any view that either House should act upon the subject, for tlie whole business was al- 
ready settled. Fur one, I never saw the instructions, nor heard them read, till January, 183 1 ; 

"■ Tlie circumstance diil. not occiii- fo Mr. Webster's recolleclion at the moment he was speakinfj, but the 
tiuUi is, that Mr. Van Burt'ii was hiinsella nieniber of the Senate at ihe very limo of the passiug of lius law ; and 
Mr. MeLane was at the same time a number of the Hou»e of Represenialives, So that Mr. Van Biiren did hiiw- 
self, eenaiiily, concur iu " setting up thit pretension, " two years bc<»re Mr, Adams btcamc I lesiUeiit. 



42 

nor dill I ever liear tlicm spoken of, as containing Uiese obnoxious passages. This, liien, is 
the first opportunity for considerinj^ these instructions. 

Tliat tliey have been subjects of complaint out doors since tliey were made public, and of 
muci> severe animadversion, is certainly true. But, until now, there never !;as been an op- 
poitunity naturally calling for their discussion iRre. 'I'he honorable g-cntleman may be as- 
sured, that if sucli occasion liad presented itself, it would iiave been embraced. 

1 entirely forbear, Mr. President, from going into the merits of the late arrangement with 
England, as a measure of commercial poficy. Another time will come, I trwst, more suitable 
for that discussion. For the present,! confine myself strictly to such pans of tiie instructions as 
1 think plainly objectionable, and repiehensible ; wiiatever may be the character of the agree- 
ment between us and England, as matter of policy. And I repeat, sir, that I place the jus- 
tification of my vote on the parly tone, ^^nd parly character of these instructions. Let me 
ask, if such considerations as these are to be addressed to a foreign Government, ivhatis that 
foreign Government to expect in return ? The ministers of foreign courts will not bestow gra- 
tuitous favors, nor even gratuitous smilts, on American Parties. What, then, Irepeat, is to 
be the return? What is Party to do here, for that foreign Government, which has done, is 
expected to do, or is asked to do, something for Party here ? What is to be the considera- 
tion paid for this foreign favor ? Sir, must not every man see, tliat any mixtui-e of such caus- 
es, or motives, in our foreign intercourse, is as full of dawger, as it is of dishonor ? 

I will not pursue the subject. I am anxious only to make my own ground fully and clear- 
ly understood ; and willingly leave every otlier gentleman to his own opinions. And 1 cheer- 
fully submit my own vote to tiie opinion of the country. I willingly leave it to the people 
of the United States to say, whetlier I am acting a factious and unwoitliy part, or the part of 
a true hearted American, in vvithliolding my approbation from the nomination of a gentleman 
as minister to England, who has, already, as it appears to me, instructed his predecessor at 
the same court, to carry Party considerations, to urge Party merits, and solicit Party favors, 
at the foot of the British throne. 



Mr. JMILLER. 

Mr. MILLER said: I understood the honorable Senator from Massachusetts, when he ad- 
dressed the Senate early in the debate, to say, that he intended to move to have tlie injunc- 
tion of secrecy removed, with a view that the public might be infoimed as to the grounds 
upon which this nomination had been opposed and supported; and, from the expression of 
opinion from those around me, 1 have no iloubt but that motion will prevaih The situation 
in which I stand in relation to the parties here, and at home, retjuires me briefly to assign my 
reasons for the vote I shall give. I may be permitted to declare 1 have the most jK-rfect 
respect for this body, individually and collectively. The observations 1 shall make are to 
show to the public, the Senate, and my constituents, the ground on which 1 stand. I 
trust, if any thing escapes from me, in the hurry of debate, savoring of severity on the con- 
duct of the nominee, it will be considered as sjiringing fiom the conscious sense of what I 
owe lo myself and the State I in part represent, and not in the slightest degree to im- 
plicate tiie feelings of any one here, much less influence their opinions. Thus called on to 
give a vote on a responsible and delicate subject, it would have been desirable that 1 should 
have had the same grounds to rest en with others who have embarked in the de- 
bate; but 1 have not this consolation. Upon this question I am i^isulated, and have reasons 
which have not as yet been brougiit forward, which are peculiar to myself. I stand here 
hke one of the sons of Ishmael — my hand is against every one, and the hand of every one 
against me. 

'I'iie Senator from Mississippi, (Mr. Poisdkxter,) said, on yesterday, he had heard, in his 
absence, tiiat a motion had been introduced for a specific inquiry into the conduct of the no- 
minee during his superintendence of the State Department, and tiiat this inquiry hatl been 
resisted by iiis friends. And 1 understood the member from Georgia, (Mr. Foiibtth) to 
say,theSenator fromMississippi was misinformed as to the course of the friends of the nominee 
on tiiese resolutions. Sir, it will be recollected, when this appointment first came under 
consideration, that I suggested doubts upon my mind in rel.ation to it. I supported the mo- 
tion to refer it to tlie Committee of Foreign Ixelations, desiring to shelter myself under the 
authority of that most respectable and enlightened committee, upon several points inciden- 
tally thrown out, such as to the cause of the late dissolution of the Cabinet; the propriety of 
having a resident minister at the Court of St. James, when we had only a Charge of Aflaires 
from that Court here; and the propriety and reasons of the recall from that Court of our very 
popular minister, Mr. McLane. It was then urged by a Senator on my left (Mr. Kane) a 
friend of t!ie nominee, that tlie reference should take ])lace, and it was asserted tliat the 
character of the Senate required the investigation, idler the suggestions thrown out by iTiy- 
sclf. 1 certainly did not intend to put the character of the Senate in issue by any thing 
thrown out bv me; nor do I think it was so placed; but it is equally certain 1 meant, and 
had the right to put the character of this applicant for office in issue, so far as to clear up 
my objections to him, if unfounded. 



43 

When the resolutions of the Senator from Maine were under consideration, I did not en' 
tirely concur in the [iropriety of sending tliem to the Committee. Tiiere were objections- 
to the call made on the President, which might involve the Senate in difficulty. I doubt the 
expediency of one branch of the Government ever formally asking another co-ordinate 
branch to stale the reasons of its conduct. There, are questions of privilege of a delicate cha- 
racter, vvhicii ought not to be sported with. VVff ought not to put ourselves ever in a position 
to be insulted with impunity. When we make a call on the Presitlent, it ought to be such 
an one as we have the rigiit to insist on being responded to. Hence, early in the session, 
before I was yet warm in my seat, I objected to the call proposed to be made by the Sena- 
tors from Maine on tlie subject of the Noriheastern boundary. I voted, therefore, with the 
mover.to lay the resolutions on the table; but I certainly did believe that those who voted 
against hiying the resolutions on the table, meant lo vote against them, and not to refer 
them; and I must add, my impressions as to the course ihe friends of the nominee desired, 
are in confirmation of the views taken by my friend from Mississippi. I can scarcely be 
mistaken on this matter; but, lest I may be so, I take the liberty to put directly the ques- 
tion to the Senator from Georgia, (Mr. Forsith,) whether he did not, by voting against 
the resolutions ot the Senator from Maine, on the table,iutend to follow up his vote, if success- 
ful, by voting to reject them? [Here Mr. FonsTXH rose and answered, that he did intend so 
to vote, to reject them.] 

I perceive 1 Jid not err in the opinion I entertained of the course of the friends of the nomi- 
nee, and in conformity with what was suggested by them, I have laken the trouble to inform 
myself on some of the points. Yet I still would ba satisfied to let a committee be charged 
with this subject, should the friends of the nominee require it. Otherwise, from the facts I 
have heard and believe, (the names of the persons giving the information are authorized to 
be given up; they are the most intelligent and respectable, on whose statements I rely most 
implicitly,) 1 have determined to vote m the negative on this question. The gentleman from 
Georgia has told us, that he is both the personsl and political friend of the nominee. In this 
he has the advantage of me. I never had the honor to see him ; 1 did not happen to meet 
with him in his southern pilgrimage. I once considered myself his political friend. I do 
not now — he has forced me from the ranks of those who may be considered the faithful ad- 
herents of tilt present administration. 1 am left to follow, untrammelled by the force of par- 
ty, what is riglit, approving what is commendable, and censuring what is reprehensible. 
Among the objections of a personal and political character, I reckon not the least the agency 
he has had in alienating the President from a portion of his old and most devoted personal 
friends, his earliest supporters, and rendering a very respectable portion of the people of S. 
Carolina disafiecteil, more or less, to the Chief Magistrate, whom they have formerly held in 
the highest estimation, as well for his public services as for his supposed sound political 
principles. For my own part, I was bred up with a personal regard for the character of the 
President — he was the native of my own district, reared up by one relation, and himself the 
patron of another. My father was his friend — he taught my elder brothers and sisters the 
first rudiments of their education. 1 hope the Senate will pardon me for reading a sentence 
or two, extracted from an address made by myself previous to his election, as illustrative 
how far 1 sustained him, upon personal as well as political groimds: 

Extract from a upeech at a dinner at Sumter, 1828. 
♦* Permit me to return you my sincere thanks for the complimentary notice it has pleased 
you to bestow upon old Waxavv. He must have a heart as cold as marble, who does not 
kindle with enthusiasm at the mention of his native land. My kindest and most endearing 
recollections are blended with that little neck of land to be found on our map, between the 
angle made by the North Carolina line and t!ie Catawba river. It was there I was first made 
to admire the fame and the talents of Davie. It was there that Jackson was the idol of the 
country, in the mild radiance of his youthful virtues, long before the lustre of his name, as a 
distinguished and able general, had overspread an admiring and grateful nation. While all 
of us are proud that our State has the honor of presenting to the liepublic so great a man, 
I can assure you that J;ickson is equally proud of the land of his nativity. We have a guar- 
anty, in the philosophy of nature, of his local attachments. Should your predictions and 
your hopes be realized, and the 4th of March next shall give us Jackson as our President, 
the triumph will be one of magnificence and grandeur. It will be a triumph of the people, 
over the power and patronage of the Government — it will be a triumph of the spirit of the 
constitution over its loose and perverted exposition. We may then hope to see,and to feel, 
a practical and common sense administration. No light-houses in tlie skies — no splendid 
mission — no entanghng alliances — no governmental exertion to bring out the capabilities of 
the nation, by partial, unjust, and unconstitutional legislation. Bred up in the Jeffersonian 
school — elevated by the democracy of the country, we shall look to him to restore simplici- 
ty and economy. We shall see a pure Patriot, who, having power, refuses to use it, when it 
adds not to the prosperity of the Union. Then will the enemies of the constitution be con- 
founded, and its friends rejoice at the lustration. It will be emphulically a great day to the 
American people, and a glorious one for South Carolina." 
^ Mr.MiLLEB proceeded :—]Now,sir,it \vill,l think,by almost every one who hears me,be ad- 



44 

niitted that tlie events of tlie present administration liave Jiot entitled me to much consideration 
as a prophet. Indeed, immediately after tlie address.a very distinguished and iiighly valuedfriend 
of mine, now no more, who was older and better acquainted with men than myself, wrote to me 
and pleasantly remarked, that so much of my address as alluded to General Jackson, was ad cop- 
iaiiduni he presumed. But f replied, with the greatest sincerity, that I did hope and be- 
lieve,that,if he were elected, he wotdd appoint a strong cabinet, and bring about him the best 
talents of liie country; and that by his decision of character and purity of purpose, aided by 
sound conslitutioiial advisers, such predictions would be verified. 

That they iiave failed signally, and none more so than the one which alludes to the local 
attachments of General Jackson, to South Carolina, 1 readily admit, and for that failure, as far 
as my vote will go, I intend to make the nominee responsible. 

1 happened to be in Charleston, from which phvce ] reside some dista-ncc,wheii the appoint- 
ment of the latecabinet wasannounced; although none of the rumors,of delicate and disturbing 
character, in relation to " harmony" and Mr. Eaton, had taken hold of (he public mind, his ap- 
pointment was unpopular. And the Ith of March was not ushered as intended, with any 
manifestation of popular gratification, owing to tlie objections taken into the cabinet by some 
of the distinguished citizens of Charleston, not now my political friends. It was urged that 
Mr. E.iton had neither the talents, the weight of character, or scientific information, to make 
efficient and successful the administration. 

Although it was understood that the gentlemen in Congress from South Carolina — who 
shrunk from no responsibility — who toiled gallantly in the House, and at home in the can- 
vass, did not seek any reward but an honest and faithful administration of the Government, 
it was supposed by us at home tha*; their claims would not be overlooked. 

I believe the President did go so far as to tell tiie eminent and accomplished gentleman, 
now Chief Magistiate of South (Jarolina, but for his violent and decided anti-tarifl' sentiments, 
he would have made h'-m Secretary of War. Sir, I regret he did not — and 1 think the Ame- 
rican people regret it. There were considerations ot a political nature, which would have 
made this a most felicitous appointment. Tiie jiopular attractions of tliis gentleman, his 
talents, fine manners, and manly bearing, might have staid the rapid decrease of public con- 
fidence in the Administration ot the National Government in general, and furnished a better 
ground for his friends at home to supjiose tiieir oppressions were less substantial, if be par- 
ticipated in their perpetuation. Sir, the organization of the cabinet was, no doubt, the re- 
sult of an incipient and preconceived scheme, to make the nominee the successor, and Mr. 
Eaton was the instrument through which it was efl'ected. 

Mr. Branch, from North Carolina, Mr. Berrien, from Georgia, and Mr. Rives, sent to 
France, from Virginia, were intended to compliment those States. South Carolina was 
skipped in the arrangement, and why ? It was because you resided there. You were the 
obstacle to the approach of popular Favor with the Administration at its commencement, 
even up to the moment when Van Burenism was introduced into South Carolina, upon the 
adjournment of Congress, 1830, no doubt the result of preconcert by a leak from the moun- 
tains, and a wave from the siiores at tiie same time. From that lime, the claims of our citi- 
zens were, for the first time, taken notice of Those only confined to the [larty who now 
favor tiie pretensions of the nominee. Sir, we have aw ajipointment now on the table, of 
Charge des Aflaires to Belgium, from those who, par excellence, claim to be the Union par- 
ty ; one every way worthy of the trust, as I have already borne testimony, and 1 am told 
we have anotlier arrival today from the same quarter, in quest ot Executive favor. 

Nothing will be left undone which is presumed likely to give the minority the ascendancy 
in South Carolina. Every man of any consequence among them has a right to expect some- 
thing — Vice President, Governor ol a Territory, Minister, or Charged des Affaires, or something 
else. And who are they ? We are informed of their existence by their memorial presented 
against the Tariff and nullification. As they have come into the Senate as a party, I shall 
speak of them as such. The great body of this party, resident in Charleston, took it into 
their heads, on the last 4th of JuTy, to celebrate that day as a party, and sent for foreign aid; 
made a formal communication requesting the President to come to their assistance — something 
after the manner of the instructions to Mr. McLane — and the aid was furnished in a letter 
containing a tlireat against the opposite party of military force, to coerce State Legislation 
to conform to Federal Legislation. Sir, this letter has given umbrage to the majority of the 
Jackson party in South Carolina, for the other party is composed principally, 1 mean in 
Cliarkston, of Adams mew ; men who look to the General Government for favor and pa- 
tronage, who follow the changes of successive Presidents like the sun flower does the sun. 

This letter has been ]->ublicly censured in the pojiular meetings of the People, and by 
the Legislature. 1 hope 1 will be excused for making a single remark upon the character 
of the threat intimated in this letter. It sometimes happen.s, that our most able and distin- 
guished men, those most favorable to constitutional right and civil liberty, in the possession 
of power, do forget right. Such was the case with that great Apostle of free institutions, 
Mr. Jefferson, when he took it into his head that because he wished to "see the laws 
faithfully executed," he had a right to use the mihtary force of the United States to turn a 
private citizen out of his possession of what was thought by him, the then Trcsldentj 



45 

public properly, (I mean llie battiire near New Orleans.) And pray, how did he escape 
the responsibility of the law for so doing, when he was sued for breaking the close of Mr. 
Livingston ? Not by writing a learned bonk, in the shape of instructions to his lawyers 
about tlie legal right of the United States to the property in dispute, but by his counsel 
prudently placing his defence on the teclinical legal ground, that lie could not be sued in 
Virginia, for a trespass committed in Louisiana ; certainly, not a very meritorious defence 
for the military head of the Nation. Well, it may be asked, what would be the result of 
the President sending a military force against the State laws of South ('aroji-na! Sir, if he 
headed his forc« himself, one of our Juilges would serve iiim with a rule, as Dominie Ilall 
did, when at tiie head of his army ; and if he did not oh y tlie rule, he would be commit- 
ted. We have his own precedt^nt, that as a peaceable citizen, he would submit to the 
constitution, which m:ikes the civil authority of a State greater than the military authority 
of the United States. 

Without resting wholly on the objection taken to the exceptionable correspondence, in 
whicli Mr. McF.ane is desired to place liis owu Government in the wrong, I agree entirely 
in the force and power of tlie arguments ag:iinst this appointment, in thut particular. It 
will furnish a decided reproof to such public funclionaries as desire to compromise the na- 
tional honor, from personal motives, l consider the attempt to screen Mr. Van Buren un- 
der the responsibility of the President entirely indefensible ; he is, in law and in fact, the 
man who is responsible. ♦ 

Would any one consider the President as responsible for the positions taken in the last re- 
port of the Secretary of the Treasury ? We have his report distinctly at variance with t'le Pre- 
sident's views ou the Bank, and alleged to be his own, for which tiie President is not respon- 
sible. Here then is proof that the Heads of the Departments are considered the responsible 
organs of the Government, in their respective spheres. I deprecate as criminal all eifoits by 
politicians to avail themselves of foreign assistance, whether it be in an attempt of Union men 
in South Carolina to enlist in their cause the General Government, or the Secretary of State 
of the United States, to propitiate Great Britain. My p.atriotism prompts me to go for 
South Carolina against the United States, and the United States against the world. No 
statesman of correct feeling or correct principles, woidd ever, as to a foreign Government, 
put his own m the wrong I know it is often the practice ot secondary men, those who 
find themselves in the back ground at home, to take such a position as will make them po- 
pular abroad. I do not envy such men their inglorious distinction. I want no better evidehce 
of the want of good sense, or good feeling, tlian to find any one setting himself up against 
public o|jinion at home, as the champion of an interest abroad. It remains yet to be seen 
whether the great benefits of this treaty, achieved by reflections on the constituted autho- 
rities of the Nation, will be more substantial than the amazing favor, of permitting, by spe- 
cial grace, ike anti-tariff and anti-nullification memorial to go to the Committee on Finance. 
I have understood, upon the bcjt authority, a member ot Congress then, not now, that 
this odious Tariff act of 1828, became a law, by Mr. Van Buren's failure to redeem a 
pledge to vote against amendments, which would have prevented the manufacturers, to a 
certain extent, voting for the same — thereby, after putting his Southern political friends in 
a worse situation than they would have been, had they treated him as inimical. With 
these evidences of faithless conduct towards the Southern interests, he could scarcely ex- 
pect to become a favorite with thope whom he had deceived. 

Sir, one of the most decided objections I have to the confirmation of this appointment, is, 
that the most active influence of the patronage of the Government was exercised with a view 
to make this nominee, at the end of the present incumbent's term of service the Presi- 
dent. I believe this power was exercised for this purpose, to a criminal and corrupt extent. 
I have been informed by a gentleman, of the most unquestionable integrity and high cliarac- 
ter, that the Post Ofiice patronage was avowedly lent to this purpose ; and tlial within ona 
month after the late Secretary of State took possession of the Seals, the Postmasters, by or- 
der of that Department, were appointed upon this principle, removed or retained by this 
criterion, and some very singular specifications of the circuit through which the applicants 
made their approaches and sent intlieir adhesion, were detailed to me. The Senator from 
Maryland, [Mr. Smith,] has told us of instances in Maryland, in which the piosciiptive prin- 
ciple was not applied to the friends of tiie late Administration. Sir. that was not the test. It 
would have been more satisfactory to me to have ki)own whether, in the exceptions to the 
rule, some indication was not fun idied as to their ulterior prefisrence for Mr. Van Buren for 
President. Thi>i was, I understood, the passport, the Shibboleth, which admitted to the Trea- 
sury through those Departments under the control of the Secretary of Stat«. This is not 
all : I am informed he introduced, under his patronage and influence, mere boys into profi- 
table appointments, one not more than 16 or IT years of age, in the most wanton exercise 
of official favoritism, thus perverting the public trust, and abusing his power not only in turn- 
ing out, but in turning in. 

In the South, the proscriptlve system never was adopted, nor could it be. It is so odious 
— so much at war with the principles of justice, that no Administration could venture to 
adopt it in South Carolina. For my own part, I do not think the power to turn out one man 



46 

and put in another, as a mere arbitrary exertion of executive authority, does exist. I think 
it a violation of the Constitution, and I pledge myself to sustain any course which this Senate 
can adopt to restrain tlie use of sucli power. It is tlie essence of tyranny, and the precedent 
on which it rests is to be found in those g-loomy days of federalism and consolidation, when 
those of the Convention whicli formed our Constitution, who wislied to have a monarchy, 
were entrusted vvilli tlie new Government as llie friends of the Constitution ; when the pre- 
amble to tlie first revenue law was interpolated witli an inliibited power ; when the judiciary 
act was enacted; when the alien and sedition laws were considered constitutional ; wlien, in 
fact, it was thought notliing but fair by the advocates of monarchy and executive power and 
supremacy, to acquire, by legislative construction, under the Constitution, wliat tlicy failed 
to get in the Convention. I am prepared to put my negative on its exercise. It is at war 
with civil liberty and the genius of our institutions, and ought to be abandoned or prohibited, 
I am perfectly satisfied that this practice has been introduced in its most corrupt form, and 
brought secretly to bear upon the President by a regency left here in the interest of the 
nominee. 

Again, sir : It is pretty generally admitted that the court paper was established under the 
auspices of tlie late Secretarj of State, and speaks iiis sentiments, and acts under general in- 
structions to pursue such a policy as will bring him into power. 

One of the means resorted to, to effect this purpose in the South, is to strengthen the 
Northern or Union Party in South Carolina, who are supposed to be friendly to liim, and 
use up the love of union with the love of him ; transfer tiirough the affection the Peo- 
ple bear to the President, their attachment to his favorite, and to separate tlie President 
from his old Carolina friends; hence, when no hope exists for whipping any one into tlie 
views of the central regency, the most bitter denunciations are pronounced on them " by 
authority." Thus, when Branch, [ngham, and Berrien, honest and honorable men, who know 
the intrigues of the court party, even express a willingness to act on principle with the ad- 
ministration notwithstanding their pei'sonal wrongs, the understrappers of the nominee tell 
them they are influenced by fear of the people. In pursuance of the same reckless spirit 
of hostility towards those it is my pride and my honor to be identified with, while this 
nomination is pending, the following article appears in the Globe : 

*' It is evident that the political leaders of the nvdhfiers are not ready to come out in open 
hostility to the President, because that would go t» defeat their own efforts to control the 
State of South Carolina, and while they cunningly contrive to keep a footing among the 
South Carolina Jacksonians, gradually to undermine him there, they proclaim to the rest of 
the Union that they * entertain feelings of gratification in considering the late message of 
the President as afTording indications of a change more favorable than heretofore to the prin- 
ciples maintained' by them. Tills, it is hoped, will operate against him in the other States. 
The Columbia school of politicians would do honor to such a master as Machiavelli." 

I submit whether I do not stand justified in the opinion of the Senate, in pronouncing 
this a wanton and unwarrantable calumny. Look at the message. It is skilfully framed to 
j)lease the South with general phrases, suited to the tariff interests. Look at the Treasury 
ileporl, in which a seesaw is established on the bank with the message; and I maj' ask where 
is the strongest proof of Machavielism to be found in the federal papers or the State resolu- 
tions ? [Here Mr. Miller read extracts from papers from Pennsylvania, to show the mes- 
sage was understood there as in South Carolina.] Sir, the present administration seems dis- 
posed to test indifferent and well secured supporters, by a rule resorted to among farmers 
or hiuiters, to select from a redundant kennel what supernumeraries to be drowned by 
holding them up by the ear. P'or my part, I am determined not to place myself in the power 
of such political friends as will attribute my support to fear, and not to principle. As soon as 
I vote for the nominee, I shall be told I dare not do otherwise; your friends at home attempt 
to break down the President by praising him, and they dare not oppose him openly, and you 
vote for Mr. Van Buren to injure Iiim, not from any principle of attachment to the President, 
but because you want to make the tariH States believe he is anti-tariff, and thereby break him 
down upon the Machiavel plan. We are told we dare not oppose the President. Sir, the 
people I represent dare do any thing that brave and generous men dare do,- and standing here, 
I dare speak the truth, and vote against the principal, who uses such agents to represent 
them at the court of St. .lames. I believe. Sir, the statement read by the Senator from Mis- 
sisslppi, as to the nominee's reason for the dissolution of the late cabinet, given to lils friends 
in New York; I believe he did say that it was owing to a conspiracy formed by the Vice 
President and Mr. Ingham, to exclude a virtuous woman from society, and I do believe 
that in making this statement he did not s])eak the truth. 

I believe, moreover, from the Inrormalion before the public, that he planned, was the be- 
ginning and end, the Alpha and Omega, of the breach in the personal friendship between 
the first and second officers of the Government; his trail may be found in tlie eircumstances, 
and the motive was palpable and manifest. Who else had any interest in raking up 
these by-gone transactions, in which you acted your part, honestly and faithfully, both 
to the public and General Jackson > Sir, I recollect uomething of the Seminole war. 



47 

It was in this dark and difficult hour of the President's life, that I first saw, and first 
had an opportunity of manifesling- my friendship to him, at a time wiien the sedate 
and venerable fathers, such as Macon, Barbour, and Smith, of Soutii Carolina, loured 
and spoke in dark hints of censure and reprobation ; I declared my determination to 
sustain him, right or wrong. I felt grateful for his military services, and would not con- 
sent, while he was the exponent of our Government in a quarrel with Spain, to cen- 
sure him. I recollect to have heard the doggrel verse about Wilham Fell, affirmstive- 
ly applied to me by the honorable Senator from Kentucky, then Speaker of liie other 
House, who then, as well as now, stood forth openly and boldly in opposition to him. 
I recollect also the part my friend from Mississippi took in that debate. He was the able, 
eloquent, and accomplished advocate of his military fame; and wlien he concluded, was 
cheered from the galleries — but where was the Senator from Georgia ? 

li 1 mistake not, Cobb, Crawford, &c. led the VAN of attack. After all, this matter was 
rather excused than justified. It was the generous attachments of young men, and not the 
sober judgment of the old, that sustained the contluet of the commanding General in the 
Seminole War ; and I am at a loss for any good reason fur resuscitating it, except to enable 
parties to change position. Witli the hazard of differing from the Senator from Georgia, 
1 declare my determination, in the execution of the appointing power, to hold any one as 
criminal, who boldly, openly, and indecently invades public sentiment and public morals. 
As the guardians of female character, we must sustain the majesty and supremacy of female 
virtue. Foi my part, I am ready to put the seal of condemnation on him who shall attempt, 
knowingly, to narrow down the distance in society which separates tiie suspected from the 
modest woman, and upon such information as satisfies me I believe the nominee obnoxious 
to such a charge. The gentleman from Georgia has, in hold and eloquent language, asked 
for the nominee, at the hands of the Senate, justice. Sir, I will give him justice — the mea- 
sure meted to others I will mete to him. With cold and Sardonic s;niles he dismissed from 
office the most faithful public servants, without any reference to economy or the public inte- 
rest. He proscribed the Carolinas — recalled a popular Minister from the Russian Court, 
the son of one of the signers of Independence, and sent the Roanoke orator, relying on his 
influence in the good Old Dominion to further his pretensions. He recalled Mr. Poinsett, an 
accomplished gentleman, from Mexico, and sent a frontier cliaracter, a rambling statesman, 
a Carohnian by birth it is true, but one she has long ceased to cherish or honor. These are 
not of my political friends, but they are my countrymen. 

I may do injustice to the State Department on the qu-jstion of the recall of Mr. Middla- 
ton, Mr. Poinsett, and Mr. Watts. I do not know whether they desired to be recalled or 
not, but presume they did not. 

Sir, I do not complain that our favorite sons are unrequited for their faithfid services, or 
turned out of office. It is not this which calls forth my censure and indignation; It is the 
belief that my friends and fellow-citizens are hunted down with savage ferocity, not for poli- 
tical opinions, but because they are supposed to be your friends — that we will not make war 
on you, is the heresy which must be expiated with fire and faggot. 

And shall we not retaliate ? I hold the nominee responsible for this breach in our ranks. 
Nay, more, I hold him responsible for the unredeemed pledges be made to the public, pend- 
ing the last Presidential canvass. What were they ' One term of service as President ; 
retrenchment of public expenditure ; no official tampering with the press, to perpetuate 
the dynasty ; no selection of members of Congress for offices of profit. Public expectation 
on tliese topics has not been realized. I excuse a generous confiding Pfesident, and hold 
the wily subtle Minister and the subalterns liable for the failure. I will pay a portion of 
my share of the debt by putting my veto on this appointment. 

Sir, we are told if we reject the nominee we shall surely make him Vice President ; and 
such is the substance of a letter before me from one of his confidential and favored editors. 
No one can mistake the object of the Baltimore Convention ; it is to nominate him in any 
event. Look at tlie source whence it originates ; observe the double delegates from Ohio 
gotten up under the central influence here. I do not, however, regard it of any sort of im- 
portance, whether he be made Vice President or not. I shall not resort to the common 
pretence of left-handed friendship, and place my reasons for voting on the ground, that he is 
too useful to be absent. I shall do what is my duty, and let consequences take care of them- 
selves. 

In closing my remarks on this somewhat exciting topic, permit me to express my acknow- 
ledgements to the Senate for their consideration, while I have stated, in a hasty, imperfect, and 
unpremeditated manner, my opinions of the claims of the nominee to public confidence, and 
the reasons of my refusal to vote for his confirmation. 



Mr. FORSYTH. 

Mr. FORSTTHsaid, we were told by the Senator who has just concluded, in the begin- 
ning of his extraordinary speech, that he intended to publish his remarks for his own 
vindication. No friend of Mr. Van Bur«n will compbin of the fulfilment of this intention, 



48 

Of the long list of oflTences committed by Mr. Van Buren, it was natural that the Senator 
should begin with those at home- He says General Jackson has been separated from liim 
and his friends by the artifices of Mr Van Buren, and lie tells us of his own zeal and devotion 
to Ihe hero of New Orleans ; and read extracts from his own speech at the Waxaws, wlien he 
assured his auditors tiiat "the philosophy of nature" was "a sufficient guaranty" for the Ge- 
neral's "local attaciiment." Mow does it appear that Mr. Van Buren produced this dread- 
ful separation? No evidence of it is exhibited; and, with due deference totlie Senator,! would 
suggest that lie was only mistaken in his theory; «' the philosophy of nature" was not so strong 
a guaranty as lie imagined. But, is wiuit is insinuated, fact* Has General Jackson forgot- 
ten his local atlachments, the land of liis hirtli and of iiis earliest afi'ections, where he has so 
many devoted and disinterested friends? No, sir; it is not possible; General Jackson has not 
separated from Souih Carolina, nor lias South Carolina yet withdrawn from him, although the 
Senator seems to be earnestly hunting up causes for a divorce. 

The Radical party in South Caroli-ia — the Unionists — have, the Senator says, given iti their 
adhesion from interested motives to Mr. Van Buren for the succession to "the Presidency — 
and tiiis is another of his crimes. Now, sir, I do not know that it is true that they desire the 
succession for Mr. Van Buren ; certainly lliey might go further and fare worse, and fare 
much worse and not go quite so far. For this supposed interested adhesion.tiiey are stigma- 
tised here by one of tiieir Senators. I am treading, Mr. President, upon ahnost forbidden 
ground; travelling into a neighboring State to mmgle in its party strife; but 1 feel for these 
Radicals — these Unionists ; we acted together in by-gone times; we think alike still; and if I 
were not to say a word in their behalf, as the two Senators from the State are of the party 
opposed to them at home, they might chance to be condemned for the want of the plea 
of not guilty to the charge exhibited against them. Under these circumstances, I stand bound 
to repel the imputations cast upon the anti-nullifiers of South CaroUna, and taking up the 
evidence, shall prove that they are unjustly charged. Wiiat is this evidence ? The Senator 
who makes the charge on the question of the Stminole War, stood by the General with firm- 
ness and zeal ; defended him right or ivrong. The Radicals were among his censurers, and 
the question is emphatically asked, where was Georgia then ? Georgia /Aen was where she 
isnow, and where I trust she will ever be found, by tiie side of tlie Unionists, standing up for 
the right and reprehending the wrong. 'Ihe Senator seems to imagine tliat the true patriotism 
consists, in favor of one's friends, in ceasing to discriminate between truth and error. Sucii is 
not our theory — for violated laws, we hold a// responsible, /mH(/* and foes. Recent de- 
velopments have shewn that General Jackson had means of defence he disdained to use, 
but if there is one Georgian, one Radical, who regrets tiie [)arl he took on that transaction, 
I lliank God, to me, he is unknown. 1 trust, sir, that to atone for his own error in defending 
what he now insinuates ivas ivronff, he does not, under the power of some master feeling, in- 
tend to censure every thing that is risht. 

Mr. Cobb and Mr. Crawford have been named by the Senator. Mr. Cobb is no longer 
among us to answer. He did his duty,according to his conception of that duty, in this and 
every other act of his public life. His friends know that his conduct was open, and his mo- 
tives pure. The ground he stood upon here, he never abandoned while he lived. Mr. 
Crawlord, I am surprised the Senator should think — [Mr. Milleii said he alluded to Mr. 
Crawford (Joel) a member of the House of Representatives when the Seminole question was 
agitated.] I am glad to be corrected. Mr. Joel Crawford acted with his friends, and is guil- 
ty of the charge of having voted for enquiry into the Seminole war. He lives to remember, 
not to regret tiiat act. 

This Union party, which seems to haunt his imagination, if I aiTi not strangely mistaken, 
had the honor, a short time since, to number him as a member of it, [Mr. NIiller denied 
that he had erer been.] Well, sir, tiie Senator ought to know: but in tliis fact, I cannot 
be mistaken — the St-nator was a candidate, brought forward by tiiat party, for tiie State 
Government — and the cause of postponing tor two years the elevation of the accomplislied 
gentleman who now stands at the helm of her allairs. The recollection of that fact should 
have prevented a charge against them of being, from selfish motives, love of office, devoted 
to the dominant power; following, like the sun-flower, the motions of the risen sun. To this 
last charge, 1 do not plead tor tiiem, not guilty — they do follow, like the sun-fioioer — the sun- 
flower does not change its attitude for the rising, or the meridian, or the setting sun. 
Elevating its broad face to the light of heaven, it stands unchanged, and is found when 
he sets in the western, as it stood when he rose in the eastern sky. Poetically imderstootl, 
as Ovid describes the heliotrope, the Senator is right, what is good in poetry is not always 
good in ])rose, and the ciiarge is, tiiat for interest sake, the South Carolinians, unfriendly to 
the Senator, know no will but tlie Presidcnl's,and are obedient to his wiiistle. 

We are tauglit to expect siioals of them here, seeking, as tiie rewards of devotion, honors, 
and trusts, foreign missions, Sec. Sec. one of liiem being already before us, as the avant- 
courier of a thousand more! No allusion could have been more unfortunate. Who and 
what is tiie gentleman at whom this arrow has been cast, the first of the shoal of office seek- 
crt.! Wiiy, sir, the Senator himself speaks higiily of his character. Described by his col- 
league, he is a high-minded man, of extensive information, and unsullied integrity, in whose 



49 

hands the best and- dearest interests of the people may be safely confided. And are such 
men office seekers, and interested devotees to existing power in South Carohna? If so, what 
are the patriots? They must be angels. They cannot be men. The Senator may eulogize 
his friends to the utmost of his power, exalt them in the scale of talent and mtegnty to the 
highest pitch; I venture to place his opponents by their side, and challenge comparison with- 
out fearing or intending to depreciate inthe slightest degree the honor of any of S. Carohna s 
distinguished sons. 

The arrangement of the first Cabinet did not please the Senator. South Carolina was ne- 
c:lected. Governor Hamilton was told he might have been Secretary of War, but for his 
violence against the Tariff"; and what seemed to have added venom to the sting. South Caroli- 
na was not only passed over, but an Attorney General was looked for in Georgia; and all this 
was the work of the Uom Daniel ot New York. The Senator is difficult to please. He hked 
not the first, and hkes less the second Cabinet. But how was the fact in regard to Gov. 
Hamilton? If my memory deceivestme not, he has publicly declared lie might have had office, 
had he desired; he did not desire it. In this, and in all other things, he is incapable of de- 
ceit. Passing over the unpardonable offence of going to Georgia for a member of the first Ca- 
binet, does the Senator really suppose the choice of the late Attorney General was the work 
of Mr. Van Buren? [Mr. Miller nodded an assent.] The Senator never committed a more 
egregious mistake. Of all the men of the day, his equals in professional attainments and ta- 
lents, admitted to be great, I think he is the last man who would have been selected by 
Mr. Van Buren; and siire I am, Mr. Vau Buren is the last man on earth to whose influence 
llie late Attorney General would have been willing to owe his place. 

Considered as the originator and the fosterer of the disagreement between the first ami 
second officers of the Government, Mr, Van Buren is to bear the extremity of the Senator's 
wrath. On this subject, Mr. President, 1 can only refer the Senate to the exphcit and prompt 
denial of the justice of the charge by the party accused, long since publicly made, and never 
yet impeached by any one having a claim to character. The facts before the public prove 
that the charge is the coinage of a distempered brain, baseless as the fabric of a vision. If the 
Senator has any desire to enter into further enquiry, I repeat here this explicit and positive 
tienial, in the name of an absent friend ; and if he ventures upon the investigation, 1 pledge 
myself to satisfy even his pre-occupied mind, that not a shadow of suspicion can rest upon 
Mr. Van Buren's fame. I speak on the highest authority, when I state to the Senate, that 
bis deportment in relation to that controversy, deserves the respect and admiration of every 
iionorable and delicate mind. 

The Globe ! the Globe ! the official paper, has abused the Senator and his friends. The 
editor was brought here by Mr. Van Buren, and he is accountable for all it contains — all that 
is bad, I mean : he gets credit for no good, appear where it may. 

This charge is made because the Globe is called the Government paper, Mr. Van Buren 
and the Government being previously identified. I must not be misunderstood as defending 
the Editorial management of the Globe. 1 see with regret many attacks on persons for 
matters that ought not to be brought before the public. I detest all investigation of the 
private transactions, all malignant scrutiny into the every day business of political aspirants. 
Their private characters are known to the People ; and so far as character should operate 
*o their prejudice, it will be weighed. Even the defensive recriminations of the Globe, 
<leserve censure. But, sir,-! do not admit that Mr. Van Buren or the Administration is re- 
sponsible for the lighter offences, much less the enormities of any newspaper writer — even for 
the Globe — which, black as the gentleman may consider it, is as pure as this unsullied 
sheet, compared with the journals that are published by its side. But does the Senator 
mean to assert that every one who aids in the establishment of a newspaper, is responsible 
for its enormities ? Will the Senator consent that his friends and all his opponents shall be 
judged by the same rule ? I ask him to glance his eye back over the history of the press in 
this District for a few past years. Does he remember the Federal Republican, the Washing- 
ton City Gazette, the Washington Repubhcan ? Does he know any thing of the National 
Journal and the United States Telegraph ? Has he present to his recollection the atrocious 
calumnies by which they have been polluted — their dark insinuations and open falsehoods, 
by which the reputation of the virtuous of both sexes has been wantonly and grossly as- 
aailed ' Slander has flown — still flies to all corners of our country as if borne on the wings 
of the wind. If all these things are present to his view, will he admit that those who patron- 
ized these Journals were participators of those hateful crimes ? Can he trust the reputa- 
tion and honor of his friends to the application of his own rule ? 

[The Vice Phesident asked if the Senator from Georgia had any allusion to the occupant 
of the Chair ? 

Mr. Forsyth. By what authority, sir, do you ask that question ? 

The Vice Prtsident said the allusion appeared to be so direct, he had a right to ask the 
question. 

Mr. Forsyth. I deny the right ; and if it is considered as a question of order, I appeal 
to the judgment of the Senate. 
4 



50 

Tlie Vice PBEsinr.HT said If tlie alhislon was directed to him, tl»ere was no foundation 
for it. 

Mr. MiLLEK rose and addressed tlie Chair. 

Mr. FonsiTU claimed the floor, which lie said he was In some danger of losing between 
the Chair and the Senator. 

The Vice Puksident said the Senator from Georgia is entitled to the floor. 

Mr. Forsyth. That being understood, 1 give way with pleasure to the Senator for any ex- 
planation he may desire to make. 

Mr. MiLLKH explained, and concluded by saying — as to the rule by which he judged others 
in relation to the official press, he was willing that it should be apphed to himself and Jiis 
friends. 

Mr.FoRSYTH replied fo the argument as explained, and then said — As to the public press, 
the Senator consents that he and his friends shall be judged by his own rule. Then Got! 
lielp the Senator's friends, for they are beyond all human aid, and so are all those who patron- 
ize and support, in times of high party Ftrife, a thorough-bred partizan newspaper. Leaving 
to others to adopt or reject the rule, and to apply it or not to the patrons and supporters of 
the Journal and Telegraph, and to the former patrons of the Washington Uepublican, the 
Washington City Gazette and Federal Republican, I deny, explicitly, Mr. Van Buren's 
responsibility for any articles of the Globe. If the Senator will produce satisfactory proof 
that he lias been instrumental in establishing a press, here or elsewhere, for the purpose 
of dragging down by calumnies any good man's name, my vote shall damn liim here — my 
voice every where. 

In the spirit of manly frankness, not in the spirit of this discussion, I appeal to the Senator 
to reflect upon the irreconcileable contradiction between all his conclusions to Mr. Van 
Buren's prejudice, and the character of the Chief Magistrate — not the character of the 
President with his present friends and the people, but according to his own conceptions of 
that character before the President had the misfortune to think that the Senator and his 
friends were pursuing a policy dangerous to the union of the States. He was, as described 
by the Senator, all that was good and great, and performed with the purest patriotism more 
important services than any man since the days of Washington. His known firmness has 
been called obstinate self-will, by his adversaries, and he has been held up by his enemies 
as a roaring lion, requiring implicit obedience from all who venture to approach his den. 
Take tlie good or the bad of this description — Judge this matter by the opinion of the 
President's friends, by the Senator's, or by the President's enemies, and the part allotted to 
Mr. Van Bnren could not have been played here. What, sir! tliis pure patriot, this great 
public benefactor — this self-willed, obstinate man — this roaring lion, to be a wet rag in any 
man's hands ; a nose of wax, to be pinched into any and every shape by Mr. Van Buren's 
fingers ! If the Senator will calmly reflect, he will be compelled to acknowledge that he 
is or has been greatly mistaken. I'lie President is not what he declared bim to be — what 
his friends or his enemies believe him to be — or else flagrant injustice has been done to Mr. 
Van Buren. I will not quarrel with the Senator's choice. He may take either branch of the 
alternative. He cannot hold both. 

The formidable array of facts in support of his charge of corrupt management against Mr. 
\'an Buren reminds me of an occurrence said to have happened in France. — There is it 
seems such a thing as an action to recover damages for seduction, which may be brought 
by an unfortunate lady who has listened too credulously to a flattering tongue. A pretty 
lady who had quarrelled and parted with her lover, called on an advocate to bring a suit 
for the damages she had sustained. She described the origin and progress of the liaison, 
the happiness enjoyed while it lasted, and the time of its duration, and /Aera its fatal end. 
The advocate listened with profound attention to the story, and saw that it was one of those 
cases in which it was difficult to say who was in fault, the gentleman or the lady, and that an 
action could not be maintained for seduction. How to convey this, without offending the 
fair one, was the difficulty. All Frenchmen, of all professions, avoid that as the deadliest 
of sins. The advocate managed it with the proverbial skill of his profession and of his country. 
" Madam, it would give me infinite pleasure to obey your wishes, and punish the ingrate who 
has separated himself from so much beauty; but I am obliged to tell you that the facts are 
not sufficient to support an action." This seemed very strange to the lady, as she had been 
very minute in her detail of all the facts. Pouting and petulant she left the advocate to his 
books and briefs. The whole aflair was forgotten by him; but in the course of a few days 
the lady burst triumphantly into his room, exclaiming, with joyful eagerness, ♦• another fact, 
sir, he seduced me again this morning." And so it is with the Senator. His facts, like 
the lady's, do not go to the point he must reach to effect his purpose. Each one is like unto 
the other, and all like the seduction of that morning. 

Mr. BROWN, on the conclusion of Mr. IIAYNE'S remarks, adjured parties not to pursue 
thia discussion : it could lead to no good. F.very one's mind no doubt was made up, Let 
us vote, and avoid any further irritation, already too great on this subject. 



51 

Mk. FORSYTH. 
Mr. FORSYTH said, I am aware of the propriety of tlie suggestion of tlie gcntienian from 
North Carolina, and do not rise to continue the discussion. The gentleman who has just 
taken his seat (Mr. Hatne) has expressed his opinion— he will of course act upon it— that 
is his affair— he has founded it on sources within his reach : these sources are not disclosed 
-we cannot speak of them. No evidence other than that already before the pubhc, has been 
referred to by him. We cannot examine what we do not see- All this is lor the judgment 
of others. The honorable Senator has said, that the course he has taken m coming to his 
conclusion, was suggested by the friends of Mr. V. B. Tliis I must deny. he suggestion of 
that course was made by the Senator from Massachus^ts, (,Mr. Webstku) who is not to be 
numbered among the friends of the person nominated, either politically or personally. AN 
though believing investigation unnecessary, we have stood ready, at all times, to vole tor it 
in any form not disgraceful to the Senate. The whole question will soon be before the pub- 
lic, and we are ready to abide by the result. 

Mr. miller. 

[Mr. Miller kept no note of his rejoinder to Mr. Fousrxu. He rei)lied at the moment to 
auch suggestions as seemed to require notice at his hands. The publication of Mr. F s 
speech in reply, renders it proper that the rejoinder by Mr. Milleu should be published 
to correct and explain portions ot Mr. F'a reply.] _ , -.. 

Mr. Phesident : I will trouble the Senate with only a few observations in reply. The gen- 
tleman from Georgia has said, that I seemed earnestly hunting for causes for a divorce from the 
President. This is not so. I mean in this case to vindicate the character of my constituents 
from servile devotion to an Administration that shows no respect to their feelings and their 
character. Upon every point connected with the interestand principles of South Carolina, 
and the correct policy of the nation, it shall have my support. The Senator seems to consider 
the Union party and the old radical party in South Carolina as identical ; and as well versed 
as be may be in our local politics, he will permit me to put him right. The Union party in 
South Carohna cannot be said to have had an existence antecedent to 1830, unless they may 
be considered in fact and principle the old federal party. Taking this tor granted, the gan- 
tleman knows best how far back he may be able to establish a '« by-gone" iraternily with his 
Union friends. I do not know more than one of the old radical party who ever acted with the 
gentleman, and he will scarcely be regarded sufficient to give a party name to a very respecta- 
ble portion of the population in South Carolina. The gentleman admits that his friends, as 
well as himself, stood up for principle, and against GeneralJackson, in the Seminole war. 
He says Georgia was liien where she now is, beside the Unionist, standing up for the right, 
and reprehending the wrong. 

I am inclined to believe that if the gentleman would retrace the history of his own State, 
he would fiad himself and his friends occasionally as much at war with the Union, as ever 
the South Carolina nullifiers have been. Upon the whole, one remarkable difference is found 
in the honorable gentleman's course and mine. I am content with my position. He censured 
General Jackson when he was out of power, and I sustained him; and he sustains him in pow- 
er, while, in the case now before the Senate, I do not, for the reasons detailed.which he affects 
to consider most extraordinary. He must not indulge in visionary apprehensions as to what 
I shall do. Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. He says the Union party brought me 
forward for Governor, and thereby postponed the present incumbent. The gentleman 
here falls again into an error ; the same persons who brought me forward for Governor, 
brought me forward for the post I now fill; and I consider myself here, representing in the Se- 
nate the principles of the old radical party, which is another name with us for the old repub- 
lican^ or State Rights party. 

The gantleman says that I liked not the first Cabinet, and less the last. This last assertion 
is not warranted by any thing which has fallen from me. It is not true that I like the second 
Cabinet less than the first. I have voted to confirm the appointment of all the latter, and I 
would not vote for all the first if they were before us now for confirmation. 

The gentleman denies, with great emphasis, the fact of the nominee having any agency 
in ripping up the Cabinet transactions in relation to the Seminole war. 1 stated my belief from 
the facts before the public, and the gentleman and myself draw different inferences from those 
facts. He says the facts before the public prove that the charge is the "coinage of a distem- 
pered brain, and baseless as the fabric of a vision." 

[Mr. Miller did not understand Mr. Forstth as using.in the debate, such strong language, 
and will now repeat his belief, as he heretofore has done, and further, his impression, that he 
could, upon the evidence, convict him before any impartial jury, unless the gentleman should 
furnish to such jury other information than he has done to the Senate. If he mistook not, the 
gentleman had something to do with this matter, and his opinions may be entitled to a con- 
sideration which Mr. M's does not possess. The high authority referred to, together with the 
personal knowledge of the Senator, may convince him, but not others, who are less inform- 
ed on this subject.] 



52 

I .shall=not take any step to prove tlie guilt or innocence of tlic nominee, as requested by tlie 
gentleman. 11 does not concern the public or myself farther than it constitutes a feature in 
the history of the gentleman's life, and I am at liberty to state my belief and act on it.when cal- 
led on to give my vote. 

The gentleman misunderstood me, if he supposed I objected to the establishment of tl»e 
Globe, as the Government paper, by Mr. Van Buren, or any one else. I concede the right 
of every man, public or private, to establish presses, but in doing so, they must take them cum 
onere. If tiiey abuee me and my friends, by their express or implied authority, to obtain 
favor with others, they must look to those whom they themselves desire to propitiate for 
support. 

Now what are the facts here? Pending the nomination, a majority of the Legislature, 
constituting the entire mass of my political friends, pass a resolution approving of so much of 
General Jackson's late Message as recommends a reduction of the tariff to a revenue measure, 
and the most disingenuous and base motive is attempted to be fixed upon them, by an ad- 
ministration print, wiiich is the moulii-piece of the nominee and his party. In this matter, 
I put myself on my reserved right, and if 1 had no other ground to stand on, I would substi- 
tute my will for the reason, and reject the patron of such a press. It is one of tlie sovereign 
rights of a freeman to put those who ask his vote for office ai least upon terms of respect. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN. 

Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN said, I beg the indulgence of the Senate, barely to state the rea- 
sons of the vote that I shall give on the nomination before us. In this.I regard Mr. Van IJuren 
as a public man, and my reasons for withholding my advice and consent to his nomination 
are public reasons. Tliey are purely national, in which neither party nor prejudice have 
place. I feel tlie weight of all the responsibility, to be incurred by the important -measure 
of recalling a foreign Minister for causes that im]ilicate him in p\iblic censure ; but 1 also 
feel fully sustained by the considerations that shall inlluence my vote. 

Sir,tlie true interests of the nationjrequire a Minister that will represent his country, and not 
merely advance his party. We want a Minister of that lofty character, who will, the niu- 
ment his mission commences, drop the habiliments of party, and robe himself in the pure 
and loyal vestments of his country — his undivided country. I desire such a man to go forth, 
forgetting all the strifes at home, and remember only that he is an American Minister, and 
to act upon American principles. But, when we perceive the gentleman, now before us, 
deliberately at his bureau, instructing our Minister to a foreign court to call to his aid in con- 
ducting our negotiations the results of our political contests, I have good cause to fear that 
he does not possess those elevated principles, that will dispose him to reject the counsels 
which he so freely and so anxiously communicates to others. 

In the instructions prepared and given by Mr. Van Buren to Mr. McLane, we have evi- 
dence not to be mistaken of Mr. Van Buren's policy. And it is so purely selfish, as to ab- 
sorb all considerations of country. It is so devoid of American spirit and character, tliat 1 
am compelled, by a high and solemn sense of duty, to bear a decided protest against it. 

What is the scope of these instructions ? As I understand them, they distinctly direct 
our Minister to employ the influences of party, and oi his party too. They commission him 
to apprize the British court of the character of our political collisions, and especially to let 
him know who triumphed and who were defeated. Sir: It is humiliating to think of it. — 
These instructions urged our Minister to put liis party in the right and the country in the 
wrong — to refer the British Minister to the results of the ballot box here, and to press upon 
that cabinet the vicissitudes of our political controversies — our owk domestic differences a» 
motives to persuade them — to what sir ? Why, plainly, to grant that favor, to extend that 
privilege, Xo his now dominant party, that was refused to those in whose keeping Vhe ar- 
rangement of American interests had theretofore been confided. This is the first attempt, in 
our diplomacy v/ith foreign States, to separate the Administration of the country y/o»j the 
country. How wanting in all justice, as well as magnanimity was it, to make this dangerous 
and unwarrantable assumption a plea with any foreign court! Sir, who is, by our consti- 
tution, who alone can be our public organ, but " the Administration ?" And yet hear a 
clause of these instructions. Mr. Van Buren really argues the point ; " to set up" he pro- 
ceeds " the acts of the lale Jldininistralion as tlie cause offorfeiture of privileges which would 
otherwise be extended to the People of the United States, would, under existing circum- 
stances, be unjust in itself," Sec. &,c. Wherefore unjust under existing circumstances ? — 
Because, as was before stated, we, that is we, the new men, now in power, did not partici- 
pate in the acts of the late Administration, and therefore, we humbly hope, that we may be 
spared \.\\q. forfeiture of these privileges. This, with other portions of this extraordinary docu- 
ment, is so humiliating to our national character, that I cannot consent to countenance it by 
advising the President to appoint Mr. Van Buren to the very Court at which he has humbled 
us. No, sir; let us rather meet the case at the threshold, with our unqualified disapproba- 
tion, and never suffer it to grow into the authority of precedent by our acquiescence. 

Why, sir, the consequences of such a course of diplomacy would be most disastrous — It 



53 

would ])erp<stually distract our public counsels on every change of Administration — nay, on 
every prospect of a change — on every commotion in the country tliat might indicate it, we 
should be driven by such measures, to entertain a stronger jealousy of our diplomatic func- 
tionaries abroad, tlian of the Courts and nations to which they were sent. 

Are we prepared to say, sir, and have it understood tiiat our political confliels are to leave 
our own shores, and cast their influence abroad ? That our Ministers are to become the 
agents of a party, and drive its purposes in sucli manner and by such means as they deem 
fit ? 1 trust not. Let us preserve the honorable and manly character of our foreign inter- 
course : and expect and require that our Ministers shall, in their discussions and conduct, 
act for their country; and not make a foreign Court the arena on which to play off the in- 
trigues or push the interests of a party. 



Mr. HAYNE. 

Mr. Phesibeut : Before the question is taken on this nomination, I desire merely to 
state the grounds on which my vote shall rest. I do this as an act of justice to my- 
self, without desiring or intending to influence tiie vote of any gentleman here. When 
the resolution offered by the Senator from Maine [Mr. Holmes,] was before the Senate 
a few days ago, proposing, among other things, an inquiry into the conduct of Mr. 
Van Buren, I took occasion to say, that tliougii I could not vote for that resoluliun, be- 
cause, in the form in wiiich it then stood, it proposed to make a call upon the Presi- 
dent, which I did not consider ag quite respectful in its character ; and also, because, 
even in relation to Mr. Van Buren himself, it was altogether too vague and indefinite 
to lead to any practical result ; yet that, if any Senator would move lor an inquiry, in 
proper form, I would not only vote for it, but cheerfully abide by tlie result. The 
friends of Mr. Van Buren, while opposing tlie resolution of Mr. Holmes, had not them- 
selves thought proper to institute any such inquiry. 1 do not mean to censure them 
for this, nor to draw any inference from their course in this respect, unfavorable to Mr. 
Van Buren. They believed the cliarges against him requires no investigation, and for 
my own part I was willing to acquiesce in the sugggeslion which had been thrown 
out, that from the nature of the case it was peculiarly proper that each gentleman 
sjiould make the necessary inquiries yjjr himself, and having satisfied his own conscience, 
act accordingly. I have. Mr. President, pursued this course, and by the result shall 
my conduct, on this occasion, be governed. From the time when Air. Van Buren took 
possession of tlie Department of State up to the moment of his departure for England, 
I liave been an attentive observer of the passing events here. I have, also, since this 
nomination came before the Senate, taken pains to inform myself, from the very best 
sources, as to the correctness or incorrectness of my first impressions with respect to 
the conduct of Mr. Van Buren, while Secretary of Slate, and the result has been a 
/Irm conviction that I ought not to give my advice and consent to his appointment as 
Minister to England. From facts and circumstances which have fallen under my own 
observation, many of them notorious to the whole country, as well as from information 
derived from sources on which I implicitly rely, I have arrived at the following conclusion : 
that, when Mr. Van Buren came into the Cabinet, he found a state of circumstances here 
that opened a door to the establishment of c(« injluence favorable to his personal views ; 
tliat, instead of exerting liimself to remove me causes of discord and dissension by 
which tlie Executive was unhappily surrounded, he dexterously availed liimself of them, 
and wielded them for the promotion of his own personal and political interests, and for 
the advancement of his friends and supporters to office, to the exclusion of almost all 
others. It is known to all who hear me, that Gen. Jackson came into office under 
most auspicious circumstances, which, properly improved, could not have failed to secure 
for his administration the higliest honor, and as I still believe lasting benefit to his 
country. 

It is notorious that the fruits of the great political victory which brought him (into 
power, have been, in a great measure, lost. The expectations of the country have 
not been fulfilled. Dissensions and discord have divided a party who were once ce- 
mented together by the strongest ties. Men who espoused Gen. Jackson's cause at 
the earliest dawn of his political fortunes, who stood by him in the heat of the contest, 
have been discarded from his confidence, and proscribeu, while those who came in 
(like Mr. Van Buren himself) at the eleventh hour, who never lifted a finger in his de- 
fence, or raised a voice in his favor, now have undisputed swaj'. Sir, I liave no doubt 
whatever, tliat, for all this, tlie country is cliiefly indebted to the influence of Mr. 
Van Buren, successfully, tliough cautiously, directed to the single object of advancing 
himself at the expense of all who were supposed to stand in his way ; and, what is 
worse, at the expense of the success of the administration, and at imminent hazard to 
tlie best interests of the country. 

I firmly believe, sir, that it was not until Mr. Van Buren discovered, in the course 
of the labt winter, that, by creating a unity of interests between the President and him- 



54 

self, and alienating him from his faithful and true friends — instead of elevating himself, 
he was pulling his benefactor down — that he determined to break up the Cabinet, by 
withdrawing himself, and driving liis colleagues from their stations ; taking care, how- 
ever, to provide a safe retreat for himself in this mission to England. I think the dis- 
solution of the Cabinet, under all the circumstances which attended it, was most unfor- 
tunate for the Executive, and disreputable to the country ; and such I am persuaded, 
is the opinion of the great body of the People, of all parties, throughout the United 
States. From all that 1 have seen and heard upon that subject, I have not tha shadow 
of a doubt that this event would not have taken place, but for the firm and manly 
resistance made by certain members of the Cabinet to the views of Mr. Van Buren. If 
they had enlisted under his banner, and consented to follow his lead, all would have 
been well. I believe, moreover, that Mr. Van Buren, while Secretary of State, used 
the influence derived from his high oflice, for the purpose of controlling, injuriously, 
the domestic and social relations of this community ; and that his conduct was, in other re- 
spects, inconsistent with the dignity of his station and the character of the country. Hav- 
ing arrived at these conclusions, after a careful and deliberate examination of the whole 
case, my duty is, of course, made plain. We are called upon to give our advice and consent 
to the appointment of Mr, Van Buren to a high and most responsible office. 1 know that a 
decision in his favor will be regarded here, and held up elsewhere, as a triumphant acquittal 
from all the charges that have been preferred against him. I cannot consent to be an instru- 
ment in producing such a result, believing, as I do, that these charges are true. 

Allusion has been made to the strong prejudices which are said to have followed Mr. 
Van Buren through his whole political course, and of which it is said he is now to be made 
the victim. For my own part, I am unconscious] of being under the influence of any such 
feelings. Though I have never had the honor to be classed among the personal and politi- 
cal friends of this gentleman ; yet, so far from having ever indulged any prejudice against 
him, my feelings towards him have been of an opposite character. Up to the time of his 
going into the Cabinet, but a single circumstance had occurred to shake my confidence in 
him as a public man 5 and notwithstanding this, he went into the Department of State with 
my "advice and consent ;" and I should have continued in tlie same relation towards him to 
this day, but for a course of conduct while in that office, which I honestly believe has brought 
incalculable evils upon this country. In coming to these conclusions, I have not been go- 
verned, as has been supposed, by " vague rumors merely." My opinions have been made 
up on facts and circumstances which are notorious, some of which have fallen under my own 
observation, and upon information derived from the most unquestionable sources. It is pos- 
sible I may be deceived, but if so, I can only say, that so strong are the convictions under 
which I am acting, that if I were a Juror in the box, sworn to give a true verdict in the issue 
now made up between Martin Van Buren and his country, I should feel myself constrained 
to give that verdict against him. On this conviction I shall act. Be the consequences what 
they may, I shall do what I believe to be my duty, in recording my vote againt Mr. Van Bu- 
ren as minister to England. 



Mr. MOORE. 

Mr. MOORE said, I do not now rise for the purpose of prolonging this debate. Under 
all the circumstances of,lhe case, notwithstending the able views which have been presented, 
and tiie impatience of the Senate, I feel it a duty incumbent upon me, not only in justifica- 
tion of myself, and of the motives which govern me in the vote which I am about to give, but 
also in justice to the free and independent people whom I have the honor, in part, to repre- 
sent, that I should set forth the reasons wliicli have reluctantly compelled me to oppose liie 
confirmation of the present nominee. Sir, it is proper I should declare that the evidences 
adduced against the character and conduct of the late Secretary of State, and the sources 
from whence this evidence emanates, have made an impression upon my mind, that will re- 
quire of me, in the conscientious, though painful discharge of my duty, to record my vote 
against his nomination. But, let it not be understood, that I am opposed to the Executive, 
or his administration. On slight grounds, 1 am incapable of assuming such an attitude^ for, 
sir, I have liie honor of having been associated with my fellow-citizens in elevating General 
Jackson to tiie Presidency; and the broad principles which elevated him to office continue 
the beacon lights of my political course. And, sir, it must be remembered, that the proud 
people whose representative! am, are too patriotic to wink at a compromise of the nation's 
honor; too virtuous to encourage intrigue and corruption, and too honest to witiihold their 
approbation from a faithful discharge of public duty. In the name of this people, then, 
whose servant. I rejoice to call myself, as far as mi/ vote may go, I shall protest against liiat 
liighly reprehensible course of conduct vvhici» has been pursued by the nominee. I repeat, 
sir, tliat the vole I shall give does not proceed from hostility to the Executive; I came here 
prepared, and am now disposed, to give a lilieral and generous support to the great leading 
measures of liis Administration. It is, tliereforc, with no small degree of satisfaction, that I 
can recur to my cordial support of most of those measures and nominations which have pass- 



55 

ed in review before the Senate; and especially tlie nominations' of his cabinet ministers; and 
I am now, sir, free to state, that my vote shall be given for Martin Van Buren, as Minister to 
England, if the charges which shall have been preferred against him sliall, by any means be 
weakened, or done away. As the friend of Andrew Jackson, I have been, and am still, dis- 
posed to prosecute this inquiry into the truth of the charges, believing that it is due, both 
to the President and to the nominee, that every gentleman present should be fully satisfied 
of tlie correctness of his vote. No man in the nation can boast sinccrer friendship for the 
Executive than /can; no man in the dark hour of trial was more fervent in his support, (for 
I was an original advocate of his claims.) But, sir, I cannot obey the slavish dictates of par- 
ty discipline. I am constrained to yield to the deliberale convictions of my conscientious 
"udgment. When my reason is convinced, 1 dare not disregard her mandates. 

Sir, as has been remarked by the honorable gentleman from Maryland, (Mr. Chambkiis,) 
/too, am aware of the danger to which my vote may subject me. For, sir, it is my fate to 
have bitter enemies; but, sir, it is my peculiar fortune to be able to boast of the most sincere 
and warmest friends. I am also aware that the malignity of those who cannot appreciate the 
obligations of an lumest motive, may cause them to hurl the shafts of calumny against me, and 
attempt to prejudice the minds of my constituents. lam aware, too, that there are those 
whose minds are narrowed to the confines of party predilections, on whom those assaults 
may prove successful. I am also aware of my misfortune in differing with my honorable 
colleague, and that the motives which have induced me to assume my stand, may be utterly 
misrepresented. However, after due deliberation and reflection, and under a strong im- 
pression of my high responsibilities, and with a perfect conviction of the approbation of my 
conscience, and my constituents, no satisfactory explanation of the weighty charges alleged 
against him having been given, I am compelled to record my vote against the nomination. 

[The above, it is believed, completes tlie publication of the Debate in the 
Senate on the rejected Nomination, with the exception of a few remarks of Mr. 
Mangum, not leported, in which he is understood to ha\e declared that he did 
not approve the tone and tenor of the Instructions of Mr. Van Buren to Mr. 
McLane, but that he saw in them nothing to justify the rejection of the Nomi- 
nation. When Mr. Mangum concluded, the question was taken on agreeing to 
the nomination, and decided in the negative, as already stated in the proceed- 
ings. — Publishers.] 



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